Chapter 1

Eden's POV:

Laughter filled the private room.

Scarlett Delacroix said she was going to touch up her makeup. When she pushed the door open, she ran right into me. She reached up and yanked the earring from my ear with a frown. "Who do you think you are, wearing the same set as me?"

Only then did I realize that the two top-grade blue diamonds in my earrings were nothing more than scraps left over from her necklace.

I clutched my ear as blood streamed down, too stunned to move for a long while.

Alistair Graves stepped out at the commotion, and the color drained from his face. "Eden? What are you doing here?"

Scarlett acted as though she had only just realized who I was. She covered her mouth and giggled. "Oh my, so you're Mrs. Graves. Pardon me.

"You really should keep a tighter leash on your husband, though. He follows me around every single day, and I never have time to get on set. It's so annoying."

Alistair offered no explanation. He simply stared at me, as if waiting for me to cry and make a scene.

Instead, I gave Scarlett a smile. "I can't control him. He's all yours."

Alistair clearly had not expected that answer, and shock spread across his face.

What he did not know was that I had regained my memories two months earlier. The only complication was that I was pregnant.

I had thought that if he could treat me well for the rest of his life, there were some things I could let go for the sake of the baby.

Now it seemed the baby could not stay, and neither could the man.

"Eden, don't listen to her nonsense—" Alistair walked over and reached for my hand.

Scarlett grabbed his arm and cut him off. "How is that nonsense? You've been with me for the past two months. Isn't that the truth?"

She pointed at the faint lipstick mark peeking out from his suit collar and smiled sweetly. "My kiss is still right there. Just this morning, you told me you'd keep it there forever. What, you're denying it now?"

Alistair did not so much as blink. He kept his eyes fixed on me. He seemed to be searching my face for some kind of reaction. Was he hoping for pain, anger, or jealousy?

He was going to be disappointed.

I lowered my head, swiped at my phone a couple of times, and quietly started recording. Then I asked, "You know he's married, and you're still this proud of yourself? Do you have no shame?"

Scarlett leaned further into Alistair's arms, her smile growing even more smug.

"So what if he's married? He likes me. If you can't hold on to your man, what good does yelling at me do?"

I nodded and stopped the recording.

Then I switched to the camera and took a high-resolution close-up of the lipstick mark on his suit.

Scarlett's smile froze. "What are you taking pictures of?"

I did not answer. I simply hit play.

Her proud little mistress manifesto echoed through the private room.

I waved my phone and smiled. "What do you think your fans would do if they found out their favorite star is a serial homewrecker?"

"You set me up?" Her face twisted, and she lunged for my phone, all claws.

I stepped back with my finger resting on the share button.

"You'd better not move. If you so much as touch me, I'll post all of this right now."

The fight drained out of her at once, and she glared at me with reddened eyes.

The others in the room started trying to smooth things over.

"Come on, Eden. Being jealous is one thing, but you can't ruin someone's career over it, right? Just delete the recording and the photo."

"This is all on Alistair for fooling around. You two can settle it behind closed doors at home. Don't drag an innocent person into it."

Alistair only laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Wow, someone's jealous."

I slapped his hand away, disgust written all over my face.

He seemed completely oblivious and slid his arm around my waist instead, his voice soft. "All right, you've blown off some steam. Now delete it.

"She was just a bit of fun. I won't see her again after this, okay?"

He said it so casually.

It was as if 'just a bit of fun' could erase all the humiliation I had suffered that night, along with the two months of betrayal and deception I'd only just discovered. The five years he had stolen from me seemed even smaller in comparison.

I could not help but laugh at my own naivety. I had truly believed that he loved me.

Now I saw that I had been nothing more than 'a bit of fun' to him as well.

I looked straight at Scarlett. Seeing another woman caught in the same trap stirred something like pity in me, so I spoke up. "Agree to one condition, and I'll delete all of it."

Scarlett scoffed and flipped back her burgundy curls. "You just want me to leave Alistair, right? Well, forget it! If you dare leak that recording and those photos and ruin my career, I'll latch on to Alistair and never let go."

The smug look on her face carved away the last bit of sympathy I had for her.

She probably had no idea how crazy and terrifying I had been five years earlier, before Alistair locked me away.

"Who said anything about leaving him?"

I strolled over to the coffee table and picked up the fruit knife.

"You looked pretty pleased with yourself when you ripped my earring out." I wiped the blood from my earlobe onto the blade, and my smile turned cold. "Now stab yourself once to make it up to me. Then I'll delete the recording and the photos, and you can have Alistair too."

I tossed the knife at her feet.

She stared at me in disbelief. "Are you insane?"

When she still did not move, I crouched down and picked up the knife.

"One stab, and you get your career and your man. Will you do it yourself, or should I help you?"