Chapter 3

My face went ashen. I snatched the phone and examined it carefully, zooming in.

I finally confirmed that the man was indeed Ryan Sterling.

Seeing this, the security guards became completely unrestrained.

They used their batons to violently, humiliatingly, pin my body to the floor.

I couldn’t fight off two grown men and could only retreat, struggling against them.

“Still trying to lie?! Don’t think you can fool *me*!” Saying this, as if to vent his frustration, one of them kicked me hard in the side.

The stabbing pain in my side sent my mind reeling, a blank fog descending.

I gritted my teeth against the agony, my bloodshot eyes fixed on Tiffany.

“You’ll regret this!” I roared, my voice hoarse. “Go get Ryan Sterling here!”

Tiffany walked over, looked down at me, then squatted down and brutally pinched my cheek.

She forced me into a deeply humiliating position, exposed to the gawking crowd.

“You presumptuous little mistress, still daring to ask for Mr. Sterling?” She spat at me, figuratively. “You got all that plastic surgery to hook him! Shameless!”

“And you dare impersonate his real wife?”

She curled her lips, her eyes filled with disgust. “Mr. Sterling has plenty of admirers, and *I* haven’t even made my move yet. You’re certainly not going to!”

I instantly looked at her, my mind feeling as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, churning in chaos.

Did she mean…

Ryan Sterling had more than one mistress?!

I closed my eyes, suppressing the tremor in my heart.

“Ryan Sterling ordered this set of jewelry, but *I’m* the one who signed the receipt! You can check!”

Tiffany’s smile vanished, replaced by a sneer.

“Hardheaded. I said you broke it, so you broke it! What’s there to argue about?”

The security guards hauled me up from the ground, my hands pinned behind my back.

“Enough!” My breathing was heavy, a cold warning in my voice. “Let’s see who dares touch me!”

“I dare!”

A striking figure emerged from the crowd.

My eyes widened as I watched her approach, but seeing the young woman’s face, I felt as if I’d been struck by lightning again.

She was the woman by Ryan Sterling’s side!

More importantly, she bore a striking resemblance to me from ten years ago.

No wonder Tiffany inexplicably accused me of plastic surgery!

Her face was cold. She walked up to me, looked me up and down, then a sharp slap landed across my face.

The stinging pain on my cheek and the metallic taste of blood in my mouth instantly cleared my head.

“Who are you?” My throat was so dry it hurt. It took me a moment to speak.

“Who am I?” She folded her arms, radiating arrogance. “You have the nerve to ask? How dare you impersonate me? Do you have a death wish?!”

She scrutinized my face, then scoffed.

“Sweetie, you think you can climb your way up to Ryan by getting plastic surgery to look like me? You’re just a pathetic copycat.”

My breath hitched. My voice was raspy. “So, you’re Ryan Sterling’s wife?”

She nodded confidently. “Of course. Who else would it be? You?”

Tiffany stood by, a flicker of jealousy in her eyes as she looked at Chloe, but she still stepped forward and bowed her head.

“Mrs. Sterling, you’re finally here! This woman doesn’t know her place, trying to hook up with Mr. Sterling!” Tiffany’s eyes darted, and she smirked. “She even has Mr. Sterling’s supplementary card. I wonder when she stole it!”

Tiffany was fanning the flames, thinking that if I were out of the picture, she would surely succeed in becoming Mr. Sterling’s mistress.

Even being his kept woman would be worth it!

A look of infatuation flashed in Tiffany’s eyes as she thought of that distinguished man.

Chloe’s gaze, sharp as ice, immediately pierced me.

“Are you completely shameless? Flaunting your affair with a married man so openly?” She held out her hand. “Give me back the supplementary card! You shameless thing, trying to use my husband’s money to pay for your jewelry! Ugh!”

The crowd watched the spectacle with relish, adding fuel to the fire.

“OMG, mistresses these days are getting bolder and bolder! Caught by the wife using her husband’s supplementary card, how embarrassing!”

“Exactly! In the old days, she’d be publicly shamed for life!”

“So shameless!”

I turned, my eyes cold, staring at the gossiping crowd.

The sheer coldness and immense pressure radiating from me instantly silenced everyone.

Chloe, hearing this, puffed out her chest with absolute arrogance.

“I see you won’t give up until you’re utterly defeated!”

She then dialed a number.

“Honey,” Chloe said, her voice a soft, injured whimper, radiating vulnerability. “I’m at Sterling Mall, and there’s a crazy woman causing trouble. She insists she’s your wife! You need to come and expose her and teach her a lesson!”

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The man on the other end of the line paused, sounding confused.

“My wife? What does she look like?” he asked tentatively.

Chloe didn’t notice his hesitation. She sneered, looking me up and down. “She’s hideous. An old woman.”

A faint sigh of relief came from Ryan’s end.

At that moment, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Ryan Sterling.

“Wife, where are you? Miss you.”

A soul-devouring storm raged in my eyes. I gripped my phone tightly to prevent myself from losing control.

“Still in Europe. I’ll be back in a week to see you,” I deliberately replied.

Sure enough, Chloe excitedly hung up the phone.

“Old woman, I’m telling you, my husband is coming right now! You just wait!”