I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Bertram's profile.
He must have sensed me looking, because he glanced down. Our gazes locked, and something complicated flickered through his eyes before vanishing in an instant.
He cleared his throat twice.
"What happened at the club was Alexis's fault. She got too excited about her birthday and forgot to screen those people beforehand. I'm apologizing on her behalf."
My lashes trembled.
When I spoke again, my voice was raw but dripping with sarcasm. "How long are you going to keep playing dumb, Mr. Delgado?"
Bertram watched me in silence, his eyes unreadable.
After a long pause, he drew a deep breath.
"Alexis was wrong about this, yes. But if you hadn't stirred up trouble during those ten minutes, no one would have laid a finger on you."
I stared at him, eyes wide, unable to believe those words had actually left his mouth.
Did he honestly think all of this happened because I couldn't control myself and went out of my way to seduce my own kidnapper? That I deserved it?
My voice shook, every syllable catching in my throat as I tried, desperately, to reach whatever conscience he had left.
"We changed locations so many times that night. So why was it that specific man? Why did he just happen to show up at the club? Alexis knows the answer better than anyone!"
Bertram's gaze darkened, his eyes turning glacial.
Before he could respond, the door to the hospital room swung open.
Alexis rushed in without a word and dropped to her knees in front of me, tears streaming down her face like spring rain.
"Prudence... I'm so sorry... I know what I did was wrong. Please, I'm begging you, just let me go!"
I was completely blindsided by her sudden performance.
The woman cried harder, her sobs growing more agonized by the second.
"I know what happened hurt you terribly, but... but why would you send my photos to the group chat just to get back at me?"
Bertram reached over and took the phone from Alexis's hand.
One glance. That was all it took. I could feel the temperature around him plummet.
"Prudence Henson, I never realized you could be this vicious!"
The next second, he hurled the phone straight at me.
It struck the bridge of my nose dead-on. Pain exploded through my face, sharp and blinding, my eyes stinging as my entire face went numb.
Through blurred vision, I could see what was on the screen: photos of Alexis with her clothes in disarray.
My brow twitched hard.
"That wasn't me..."
I tried to explain on instinct, but Alexis had already collapsed into Bertram's arms, her face chalk-white.
He cradled her, calling her name over and over, his eyes wild with panic.
He roared toward the hallway. "Doctor! Someone get a doctor!"
Bertram scooped her up and turned to leave, his frigid gaze landing on me one final time.
What came out of his mouth next hit like a bolt of lightning.
"Someone hold her down. She likes sharing other people's photos so much? Then strip her bare and take as many as you want!"
The instant he turned away, I saw the woman in his arms open her eyes.
That taunting look she gave me was a silent, savage mockery of my helplessness.
I froze. A wave of ice crawled up my spine and coiled around my heart.
By the time I found my voice, I was screaming at his retreating back. "Bertram! I didn't do this! She's faking it!"
Over a dozen men surged forward, drowning out my cries. I fought with everything I had, eyes burning, but it was useless.
I couldn't believe Bertram would go this far for Alexis.
Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I looked at the caller ID and clung to it like a drowning woman grasping the last lifeline she'd ever get. I pressed myself into the corner, answered the call, and thrust the screen toward the mob.
"Don't touch me! My fiance will kill every last one of you!"
The two men at the front squinted at the name on the screen, exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.
"Aiden Vance? That ghost of a CEO who makes people disappear? Sweetheart, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Aiden Vance? The untouchable devil who owns both sides of the law? And you, some cast-off piece of trash your own husband threw away, you're claiming he's your fiance?"
But the next second, a low voice cut through the phone speaker.
Even through a screen, the sheer force of it was suffocating.
"I dare anyone to touch her."
A gust swept through the room. Something thin and flat sliced across the lead thug's face and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
It all happened in a heartbeat, but the man clutching his face and howling in agony told the whole story.
The thug beside him went white as a sheet.
"It's... it's him..."
Seconds later, a dark stain spread between the man's legs.
With Aiden Vance's protection hanging over me, I made all dozen of them sit down and digitally edit over a hundred fake nude photos of Bertram and Alexis together.
I admired the stack of printed photos, then ordered the men downstairs to hand them out like flyers in front of the hospital.
They wanted to smear me? Fine. I'd give them something real to talk about.
It wasn't long before chaos erupted through the building.
I slipped out in the commotion, gathering my things as I went.
In the VIP suite, Bertram had his hand inside Alexis's blouse. Neither of them had the faintest idea what was unfolding outside.
I barely spared them a glance. I pulled out my phone, sent him one final email, and walked away without looking back.
A black sedan was waiting behind the hospital.
The moment I climbed in, calls and messages flooded in like a death knell.
I powered off the phone, calm as still water, and tossed it out the window.
This was only the beginning. From here on out, I would dismantle every single person who had ever hurt me and my children. One by one.
