The master bedroom door was wide open.
Two naked bodies tangled together on the sheets.
They heard my footsteps.
Victor grabbed the bedside lamp and hurled it at me.
"Get out! Who told you to come in here?"
Alice looked up through tear-streaked eyes, her gaze sharp with the bitter fury of a woman reclaiming what she believed was hers.
"You two haven't even registered the marriage yet. Tonight, he's mine." She sniffled, her voice climbing. "You've been treating me like a joke this whole time, watching from your little throne. I think I'm owed some interest, don't you?"
"After all, we've done much more than this before. If you want to learn how to make him happy, I don't mind you watching. I'm sure he already bragged to your whole circle about taking my virginity, right?"
"Either do it or get out! Let me go home!"
A flash of guilt and regret passed through Victor's eyes.
"I'm the bastard here! Don't degrade yourself like this! I'm the one who wronged you. I shouldn't have lied."
Then he turned on me, his gaze vicious, as if everything were my fault.
But pretending to be poor hadn't been my idea. And their first time together? I hadn't known a thing about it.
Once, I would have lost my mind trying to explain myself. I would have seized every chance to clear up every misunderstanding, every shred of hostility he held against me.
But now, I simply picked up the lamp and set it back on the nightstand.
I pulled the door shut behind me, careful and quiet.
"Enjoy yourselves."
Then I turned and walked to the guest room.
One more night. That was all I had left.
I didn't sleep well.
In my dreams, I kept seeing the Victor from when we were young. Back when everything between us had been so good. Back when he'd never once said a harsh word to me.
A sob crawled up my throat, and tears burned the inside of my nose.
My whole body ached, sharp and bone-deep, as if I'd plunged into ice water.
I woke with a gasp, eyes red and stinging.
The first thing I saw was Victor's face, twisted with disgust.
The chill on my skin was unmistakable now. My hair was soaking wet, water dripping from the ends. I looked at the bucket in his hand.
The cold hadn't only been in the dream.
"Marina! How can you be this despicable? I told you I'd register the marriage with you tomorrow. Tonight was just a goodbye between her and me. I initiated everything. I forced her. It was all me. So why did you leak that video of us?"
I stared at him, blank.
"What video?"
His brow furrowed. He let out a thin, mocking scoff.
"Still playing dumb? Who else would be low enough to plant a camera in the bedroom? I should've known. That's why you were so generous, inviting her over yourself. You were planning to ruin her reputation all along!"
"Pathetic. Disgusting. Studying how to seduce me, is that it? Let me tell you something. You could strip naked and lie right in front of me, and I wouldn't spare you a single glance. You're nothing but—"
Before he could finish, his phone rang.
His assistant's voice came through the speaker.
"Mr. Swanson, the video has been taken down. But we just traced the IP. It was sent from the family estate. It wasn't Miss Farley."
The line went dead.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then guilt, barely there before he buried it.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Alice came rushing in with a shriek and slapped me across the face.
"Is that what you want? To destroy me? I already gave you the man I love most in this world! I'm just an ordinary girl with nothing. What more do you want from me?"
She was hysterical. Her palms came down like a storm, slap after slap landing on my body, and there was nowhere to hide.
Victor frowned and reached for her arm.
"It wasn't—"
The next second, Alice slapped him too.
"Oh, so now you feel sorry for her? What about me? What about the three years you played me for a fool?"
Those three years. His rawest nerve. The one thing no one was allowed to mention.
His eyes softened with pain. He took her hand in his.
"It's all my fault. Leave it to me. I'll handle it."
He pulled her into his arms. On his way out, he cast one last glance in my direction.
