### Chapter 5
The contempt in his eyes was naked, unhidden. "You think you can compare to her?"
The sharp click of high heels approached. Eve walked over with her son in tow.
She pointed at me, her voice pitched high with arrogance. "This is the psycho who hit me. So what are we going to do about it?"
The tall, thin one in the wide-brimmed cap turned to me in a conciliatory tone. "Here's what we'll do, Ms. Simmons. If you offer Miss Sullivan a sincere apology, we'll consider the matter settled between you two."
Eve's eyebrows rose in smug triumph.
"You heard him. Get on your knees and apologize."
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached, my fists balled at my sides.
"You're a homewrecker. What right do you have to demand an apology from me?"
"Ms. Simmons, watch your language!" the bearded one barked.
Then a middle-aged man in a crisp suit stepped out from behind them. His voice was level, utterly devoid of emotion.
"Ms. Simmons. I'm Mr. Ashford's butler."
"Mr. Ashford asked me to convey that Miss Sullivan is the person closest to his heart."
"As long as it resolves Miss Sullivan's grievance, Mr. Ashford is willing to personally compensate you one hundred thousand dollars for your knee injury, covering medical expenses and emotional damages."
Eve's smile dripped with scorn. "Tell you what. Kneel down and knock your head on the floor ten times, and I'll have my man give you half a million. Fifty grand per knock."
"A broke nobody like you has probably never seen that kind of money in your life, have you?"
She was right. Back then, I'd knelt before strangers, begged anyone who would listen, worked myself half to death, thrown away every shred of dignity I had, and still couldn't scrape together enough to save my son.
I'd thought Dominic was the same. That he was just as powerless.
But it turned out that ten knocks of the head, a laugh from his mistress, and he could toss that money away without blinking.
None of it mattered now. My son was already gone. Even five million wouldn't mean a thing.
"I don't want your money."
I straightened my spine and turned to leave.
A foot slammed into the back of my knee. I stumbled forward, and my forehead cracked against the glass partition in the corridor.
"Ungrateful bitch!"
Before the dizziness cleared, a full-force slap connected with my face.
"You think you can hit me and just walk away? It's not that easy!"
Vindictive pleasure twisted Eve's features. She raised her hand to strike again, but the one in the wide-brimmed cap grabbed her arm.
"Miss Sullivan, you've hit her back. Let's not drag this out."
The butler tossed a stack of cash at my feet. "We're even."
I bent down slowly.
Picked up the thick stack of bills.
A mocking smile curled across Eve's lips.
In the next instant, I swung the money across her face with every ounce of strength I had left.
The sharp edges of the bills sliced across her flawless skin, leaving thin lines of blood.
She froze.
Then her hands flew to her face, and she screamed, completely unhinged.
"My face?! You filthy bitch, what did you do to me?!"
"Eve?!"
A frantic, familiar voice came from behind me.
My body went rigid.
The moment she heard it, Eve threw herself into the man's arms, tears materializing on command.
"Baby! You're finally here..."
Dominic only had eyes for Eve. When he saw the blood on her face, his voice shook.
"Sweetheart, does it hurt?"
"It hurts so bad... Is my face ruined? Did that old hag disfigure me?"
"Nobody's ever dared do this to me. You have to destroy her for me, or I'm leaving you!"
"Daddy! Daddy!" The little boy ran over too, clinging to Dominic's leg, wailing. "That ugly witch hurt Mommy! Make her pay, Daddy!"
"Done." Dominic pulled Eve tight into the shelter of his arms and raised his head, his expression glacial.
"Let's see who had the nerve to touch my sweetheart."
His sharp, suspicious gaze landed on the back that felt impossibly familiar, and something clenched hard in his chest.
"Are you the one who hurt my wife and son?"
Wife?
Son?
A laugh tore out of me, shaking through my whole body. Slowly, I turned around.
Every drop of color drained from Dominic's face.
"Well then, Mr. Ashford."
"How exactly do you plan to avenge your wife?"
