Chapter 3

The day after I left the Presley family's old house, there was a sharp, urgent knock at my door. I'd barely gotten it open when a burning pain shot across my cheek.

Before I could even react, Izzy's voice sliced through the air right next to my ear.

"Stevie, what did you do to my grandmother? She was fine yesterday. This morning, right after she finished the royal jelly you sent over, she was rushed into emergency surgery!"

My ears were still ringing. Half my face had already started to swell. The commotion drew the neighbors out, heads poking through their windows in annoyance.

Sebastian showed up a moment later, pulling Izzy back.

"Calm down. Stevie has no reason to hurt your grandmother."

Izzy looked like she'd lost all reason. She wrenched her hand out of his grip.

"How could there be no reason?"

The rest of her sentence caught in her throat, and her eyes flicked toward Sebastian without meaning to. That was when it clicked for me. Something had happened to Angela.

"That brand of royal jelly is what your grandmother always has," I said. "We were out of it at the house that day, so I went and bought some. It has nothing to do with me."

Izzy's eyes had gone bloodshot. She grabbed my wrist and hauled me straight to the hospital.

"If anything happens to Grandma, we're both finished."

She said it through gritted teeth, right by my ear.

By the time we got to the hospital, Angela had just come out of emergency surgery. Izzy could barely catch her breath before she was already asking the doctor.

"How is my grandmother? Is she going to be all right?"

"She's up there in years, and her blood pressure spiked. That's what caused the fainting spell. Keep a closer eye on it going forward."

Once the doctor made clear there was nothing seriously wrong, Izzy finally let out a breath of relief.

My cheek still throbbed dully. A clear handprint had bloomed across the side of my face by now. Everyone who passed by gave me a second glance.

A wave of hurt rose in my chest.

When Angela woke up in her room and I tried to go see her, Sebastian blocked the doorway. He gave me a small smile.

"Stevie, you should probably go take care of that face first. There's no need for you to worry about Angela anymore."

He shut the door in my face.

I stood outside, my chest tight and heavy. I went to the restroom and splashed cold water on my face to calm myself down. My phone, left off to the side, started buzzing.

The company group chat had exploded. Someone had posted a blurry photo.

[Isn't this Stevie? God, is he and Ms. Presley...]

I glanced at the words above the photo and felt my whole body go stiff. It was an old photo of Izzy and me together, and now someone had leaked it.

[Don't tell me Stevie is the other man. What about Sebastian? Isn't he about to marry Ms. Presley?]

[I always thought there was something off about the way he looked at Ms. Presley. Didn't expect this from him.]

Wave after wave of vicious comments and mockery hit my nerves like a physical blow. Only Izzy had that photo. No one else could have leaked it.

My hand shook as I dialed her number. It rang a few times before she picked up.

"Was it you who put that photo out there? Izzy, I married you. I'm not the other man."

My voice trembled. There was no answer on the other end for a long moment. Finally, she spoke.

"Stevie, quit your job."