Chapter 2

What I'd said actually got under Orlando's skin.

He slammed a hand against the door, about to say something, when footsteps sounded down the hall.

I peeked out. It was Romina, carrying a plate of pastries.

She saw me and Orlando alone together, and her eyes went red on cue.

"Sister... do you blame me for taking your engagement away..."

Fat tears splashed onto the floor.

"The marriage between the Hales and the Bennetts was always meant for you, the real daughter..."

"Sister... if you love Orlando, I, I can step aside..."

It made my skin crawl.

Did I say a word? Did I try to take anything? She comes out swinging with the innocent act, ready to "give him up" for me.

Funny how that generosity vanished the second I asked her to actually pay me.

I was about to fire back when my mother heard the commotion and came over.

Her face was dark, her brow furrowed, her voice cold and hard as iron.

"Ophelia, why do you stir up chaos the moment you come back? Romina isn't well, she can't take this kind of shock!"

"What are you doing pestering Orlando? Don't you know he's Romina's fiancé?"

My father snapped, "Don't pull this kind of scheming in my house!"

[oh ho! here we go! waiting for the villainess to throw a fit!]

[here it comes! the limited-time item "unborn baby" is about to get its big moment!]

I sighed. "You've got it all wrong. Orlando and I were just discussing a business deal. He's interested in buying in."

I looked at him. "Right, Orlando?"

Orlando's face went stiff. Slowly, he nodded.

"I'll go rest, then."

I shut the door.

Through the gap, I heard my mother soothing Romina.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. Mommy's here. No one's going to hurt you."

[did the villainess take the wrong pills? did she grab the wrong script?]

[the side character's faking it harder and harder. fine by me, the higher she climbs, the harder she falls!]

The comments kept scrolling, but I'd lost interest in reading them.

My phone buzzed.

A transfer from Orlando. Five million.

The note read: You're being sensible. Here's your hush money.

I replied immediately. "Still twenty-five million short, Mr. Hale."

I tossed the phone aside and buried my head under the covers.

I wasn't nearly as indifferent as I made myself look.

All that toughness was just stubbornness, the only way I had to keep my dignity.

My mind drifted back without permission.

The year I turned eighteen, I was passing through an alley and found a man lying there, covered in blood.

He stopped me from calling for help and begged me to take him somewhere instead.

While he spoke, those eyes, deep and blue as the sea, never left me.

His eyes were a bottomless pit that pulled at your soul. Anyone who met that gaze would fall right in.

I did what he asked and took him where he wanted to go.

Only later did I learn he was the son of the Hale family's Don, the next in line to inherit the title.

He survived. To repay me, he asked me out.

Little by little, he fell for me.

At least, that was what I believed.

We ended up together.

He wouldn't let me work. He said he'd take care of me for the rest of my life.

Five years. Eighteen to twenty-three, the best years of a woman's life, I gave them all to him.

But he told me he was going to be the Don, and a Don's marriage isn't his own to choose.

He said he loved me. He just loved the family's interests more.

Yesterday I found out I was pregnant. Before I could even tell him, the Bennetts came and reclaimed me.

I thought I'd finally become worthy of him.

Then he told me the woman he was marrying had always been Romina.

Even though I was the real Bennett daughter.

Outside, rain started to fall, soft and steady, like someone crying.

I listened to it for a while, then opened my email.

There was one message I hadn't answered, a business plan Damian had sent me.

I kept my reply short. "I'm in. I'll invest thirty million."

A man who strayed was lower than a dog. But he couldn't just walk away clean either.

Thirty million. Not a dollar less, Orlando, or I won't let you off.

[case closed! so the villainess wants the thirty million to bankroll some other pretty boy!]

[lmao, how pathetic, she has to use the male lead's money to buy the side guy's love.]

[you're all wrong! this is just a tactic, she's obviously doing it to needle the male lead!]

The comments kept guessing, smug as ever.

I got up, pushed the window open, and looked out at the distance, planning everything that came next.

The wind blew in, carrying rain.

It was cold, but it woke me up.