Chapter 2

Vanessa leaned in and captured his lips.

"You, obviously."

"Carter, my attraction to you is primal. You know that."

She took his hand and boldly guided it under the hem of her skirt.

"Do you believe me now?"

A wave of intense nausea hit me, and a choked gag escaped my throat.

The sound shattered the intimate silence.

Carter reluctantly pulled his mouth away from hers, the lingering lust in his eyes taking a second to clear.

"Chloe," he said casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "Your timing couldn't be worse."

His sheer indifference made my shaking, tear-streaked figure look like a total clown.

My voice came out hoarse and cracked. Tears spilled down my cheeks.

This time, he didn't rush over to tenderly wipe them away like he used to.

Vanessa smoothed down her wrinkled dress, stepping forward with an arrogant smirk.

"Thanks for babysitting Carter for me these past few years, Chloe. But now that the real queen is back, it's time for you to step down."

My chest heaved with fury.

"Get your facts straight! The two of you broke up years ago. You're nothing but a pathetic home-wrecker!"

Vanessa let out a mocking laugh.

"The only home-wrecker is the woman who isn't loved!"

"Besides, Chloe, your mother was a dirty mistress, wasn't she? Like mother, like daughter. A side chick's kid can only ever be a side chick."

A blinding wave of rage crashed over me.

Without hesitation, I swung my arm and slapped Vanessa across the face with everything I had.

Crack!

"Shut your mouth! Don't you dare talk about my mother!"

Her head whipped to the side, five bright red welts instantly blooming across her pale cheek.

"Carter... it hurts..." she whimpered, clutching her face.

Carter instantly stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body.

His voice was dead cold, plunging like a dagger straight into my heart.

"Who gave you the right to put your hands on her? Your mother did shameful, disgusting things. You think slapping people will stop the world from talking?"

My heart shattered into a million frozen pieces.

Only Carter knew the truth about my mother.

He knew she only discovered my biological father already had a family after I was born.

He knew the relentless slander and humiliation had driven her to jump from the roof of our building.

And yet, he took the deepest, most painful wound of my life and handed it to Vanessa as cheap gossip.

The ache in my chest was so sharp I couldn't breathe.

Seeing my red, devastated eyes, Carter's tone softened slightly into condescension.

"Look, I know how desperately in love with me you are. How about this? We'll still hold the ceremony. You can be the public Mrs. Vance for appearances. But the legal marriage license goes to Vanessa."

"On one condition: you have to transfer that ten-million-dollar inheritance into my name."

I stared at his handsome, callous face, suddenly struck by how absurd this was.

He was entirely convinced I was powerless to leave him.

He truly believed that tossing me a few crumbs of fake affection would make me drop to my knees and forgive his blatant betrayal.

That ten million was my mother's legacy.

It was my final lifeline in this world.

How could he even think of touching it?

When I didn't immediately agree, Carter's face darkened with anger.

His gaze flicked toward the mahogany credenza nearby.

Sitting there were the few precious keepsakes my mother had left behind—framed family photos, her handwritten journals, the things I treasured above all else.

"Refusing, are you? Then I guess you don't care if I smash all these into dust!"

He snatched up one of the antique crystal frames, holding it high in the air.

Panic gripped my throat.

"No! Put it down!"

"I'll do it! I agree, okay?!"

I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood.

Backed into a corner, I had no choice but to surrender.

Or so they thought.

Tears and begging were the most useless things on earth.

If you don't want to be trampled by wolves, you have to become more ruthless than the pack.

If someone dares to take a bite out of me, I will shatter every single tooth in their mouth.

I turned around, walked into the study, and retrieved a thick stack of printed documents.

Vanessa grabbed the papers impatiently, barely skimming the title page.

She reached out and patted my cheek with sickening condescension.

"Good girl," she purred. "What a well-trained little pet."

The contract was fifty pages long, dense with fine print.

Neither of them had the patience to read a single paragraph.

Carter took the pen, scribbling his signature with a flourish, and Vanessa eagerly did the same.

Minutes later, a mobile notification confirmed that ten million dollars had been wired into their shared account.

The two of them embraced, laughing with greedy delight.

Standing in the shadow of the doorway, I smiled too.

Because what they had just signed wasn't an asset transfer agreement.

It was a high-risk, ten-million-dollar predatory loan contract with a ruthless private lending syndicate.

It wouldn't be long before the collectors came knocking.

Over the next few days, Carter blew through the money lavishly on Vanessa.

He bought her designer Birkin bags and diamond tennis bracelets.

He took her to elite private clubs, dining on caviar and vintage wine every single night.

He even leased a luxury penthouse suite in the city center, decorating it with custom furniture for her.

I thought having the money would satisfy Vanessa enough to leave me alone.

Instead, she took to social media to smear my name.

In her TikTok live stream, she sat under soft studio lights, looking angelic as she recounted her "tragic love story" with Carter.

Naturally, she painted me as the calculating villain who tore them apart.