"I'm going to destroy you today!"
The woman at Lewis's side immediately stepped in front of him, shielding him with her body. "Who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on my man?"
"Your man?" Althea let out a disbelieving laugh. "Sweetheart, let me spell it out for you. He's a married man. That makes you the other woman. The homewrecker. Have you got no shame at all?"
Yolanda McDaniel scoffed. "In love, the one who isn't loved is the real third wheel. Lewis and I are in love with each other. If anyone's the outsider, it's that old hag over there."
She turned her gaze toward me, her eyes dripping with smugness.
Althea seized a fistful of her hair without warning. "Your mother didn't teach you any manners, so I'll do it myself."
"Ahhh!"
Yolanda was yanked to the ground. Before she could react, her clothes were torn open. She clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Lewis. "Lewis, get this psycho away from me!"
Lewis snapped out of it and shoved Althea off. "Althea, you can't even keep your own husband in line. What gives you the right to lecture anyone else?"
The color drained from Althea's face.
My expression went cold. I stood up and slapped him across the face.
"Lewis! You have no right to say that to her!"
He took the slap without flinching. He looked at me, his expression dark, but he said nothing.
The woman in his arms, however, couldn't keep quiet. Her eyes red, she screamed at me.
"You old hag, how dare you hit him! I wouldn't even lay a finger on him, and you have the nerve to slap—"
Crack.
The sharp sound cut her off mid-sentence.
Yolanda clutched her cheek, staring at me in utter disbelief. "You hit me?"
I smiled coldly. "You have the nerve to be someone's mistress, and I don't have the nerve to hit you?"
"Even concubines in the old days knew not to bark at the wife of the house. But somehow you don't have an ounce of shame."
"Then again, only someone like you would pick up another woman's trash and parade it around like a trophy."
Yolanda trembled with rage. "You think you're so perfect? You were assaulted back in high school. You even got pregnant from it! Lewis was the one who scraped together the money to pay for your abortion. He stayed with you in the hospital for over a month. And you dare—"
"You have no right to talk about that!" My vision blurred red. I lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
Yolanda's face twisted in pain. "Am I wrong, though?"
I raised my hand to slap her again, but Lewis caught my wrist and flung it aside.
"Enough! Letitia, there's a limit to how far you can push this!"
"I'm pushing it?" My eyes burned. "Lewis, get your facts straight! She started it—"
"Was she wrong?" Lewis cut me off, his voice like ice.
Every drop of warmth left my body. "What did you just say?"
Lewis repeated himself, his tone flat and merciless. "I said, was she wrong? Were you not assaulted? Did you not have an abortion? So tell me—where exactly did she lie?"
Each word carved into me like a blade. My legs nearly gave out beneath me.
Yolanda nestled against his chest, satisfaction written all over her face.
I started to laugh. A broken, hollow laugh, my eyes burning crimson as I fixed them on him. "Lewis, you truly disgust me."
I turned to leave.
Something flickered in Yolanda's eyes. The moment my back was turned, she shoved me.
I lost my balance. My stomach slammed into the edge of the table.
"Ahh!"
"Letty!"
Althea's face changed. She rushed toward me.
I pressed both hands against my abdomen, feeling a warm stream sliding down between my legs. The blood drained from my face in an instant.
Lewis came to his senses and moved toward me, but before he could take a step, Yolanda suddenly cried out too.
