And me? I was just a waitress working this extravagant gala.
Zoe let out a derisive laugh, her gaze raking over me with undisguised contempt. She'd clearly recognized me as Mrs. Vance.
She shifted her position, subtly blocking Seth's line of sight, the scorn in her voice barely concealed.
"A waitress deliberately wandering over here to get Seth's attention? Do you have a death wish?"
"You could work here your entire life and still never afford the dress Seth personally picked out for me. It's worth millions."
"You'd better start figuring out how you're going to pay for the one you just ruined."
In that moment, the gulf between Seth and me came into sharp, brutal focus.
The dress he'd casually bought for Zoe was worth more than I could save in several lifetimes.
Most of the guests at this gala were the kind of people who worshipped power and trampled the weak. Plenty of them were more than happy to fawn over Zoe, the pampered heiress.
After all, she might very well become the next Mrs. Vance.
The insults piled on, one after another.
I lowered my eyes and bowed my head in humiliation.
The day Seth told me he was tired of me, he'd immediately cut off my living expenses.
Life had only gotten harder since then, and no one dared to help me.
I shouldn't have been at a gala like this in the first place. But Seth's birthday was in a few days, and I wanted to use the money I'd earned myself to buy him a gift.
I'd hoped to use the occasion to sit down and talk with him properly.
Even if it was all a misunderstanding, it needed to be cleared up.
I just never imagined that I was the joke all along.
Zoe pressed a kiss to Seth's cheek and pouted playfully.
"You don't still have feelings for that country bumpkin, do you? This waitress kind of looks like her. Is that why you're going easy on her?"
A flash of irritation crossed Seth's eyes. He scoffed.
"Didn't you say it yourself? That hick was just exploiting my gratitude. That's the only reason she saved me back then. She came crawling to me, begging for a truce, all so I'd cover her grandfather's medical bills."
"A scheming piece of trash like her, too low-class to even show in public. You really think she could make me stop caring about you?"
"I just didn't want you dirtying your hands."
"Someone drag her out and slap her ten times. Then throw her out of the gala."
So that was what he'd always thought of me. That I was nothing but a manipulator, exploiting his gratitude for my own gain.
The words I wanted to say caught in my throat like shards of glass.
My heart felt like it had been stabbed a thousand times. Tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to fall but refusing to.
Once again, every hope I'd placed in Seth crumbled to nothing. All I could do was clench my fists, powerless.
Before I could even react, Zoe poured an entire glass of red wine over my head. It ran down my face, soaking me from head to toe. As she leaned in close, her voice was a venomous whisper in my ear.
"So what if you're Mrs. Vance? The one standing beside him is still me."
I instinctively tried to fight back, but the bodyguards moved fast. They pinned me to the ground and struck me across the face, ten times, without mercy.
My cheeks swelled almost instantly. The pain blurred my vision, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't steady myself on my feet.
Through the haze, I watched Zoe loop her arm through Seth's, triumphant and glowing, as they went to toast the other guests.
I was thrown out of the gala like garbage. I struggled to my feet.
The manager hurled a handful of crumpled bills at my face, his voice cold and flat.
"You're fired. Don't bother coming back."
I clutched the bills in my fist and tried to wipe the sticky wine from my clothes. I hadn't gotten far before a group of thugs blocked my path.
They spat vulgar insults, rough hands already yanking at my blouse.
"The lady told us this one's a tramp. Said everything she does is to seduce men."
"Now that I'm seeing her up close, she wasn't wrong."
