Chapter 2

I tapped into the live stream, wanting to see what kind of drama she was going to pull this time.

On the screen, Serena's eyes were red and watery.

"Everyone, please calm down. Stop attacking Chloe in my comments."

"It's all my fault. I failed to stop her from going down the wrong path..."

Halfway through her sentence, Serena hid from the camera, and her quiet, dramatic sobbing filled the audio.

Ethan stood beside her, pulling her into his arms with pure heartbreak in his eyes.

The viewer count was climbing rapidly.

Ethan looked down, his voice dripping with fake regret.

"I only treated Chloe well because of Serena."

"I never expected her to use such cheap, dirty tricks to get between us!"

Ethan spoke with such righteous anger.

It was hard to believe he was the same man who had just tried to comfort me in my apartment an hour ago.

I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh, though tears slipped down my cheeks first.

Maybe she saw my username enter the stream, because Serena looked directly at the camera with a pitiful expression.

"Chloe, if you go live tonight, apologize to me, and admit that you tried to seduce Ethan—and admit what happened eight years ago—I will drop everything and forgive you."

A single, casual sentence instantly set the comment section on fire.

Countless disgusting assumptions and jokes flooded the screen, piercing through me like needles.

My blood ran cold. My throat felt tight, as if someone was choking me.

What happened eight years ago was a secret she and I had promised to take to our graves.

During college, I met a toxic guy. He tricked me into taking some private, intimate photos.

Later, when he cheated and I found out, he threatened to leak those photos online.

I had cried in Serena's arms for a whole day.

Her eyes had turned red with anger, and she swore she would make him pay.

The next day, Serena used her sharp tongue to destroy the guy's reputation, making the other girl dump him on the spot.

The guy finally backed down and deleted all the photos.

She knew very well that this was a scar that had never fully healed.

Yet now, she was exposing it to the public just to let strangers laugh at me and guess what happened.

My fingers shook uncontrollably.

I quickly exited the live stream.

The next second, my Snapchat and Instagram DMs were flooded with hate mail.

"No wonder your dad died so early! A home-wrecking bitch deserves to lose her whole family!"

"Is your mom still rotting in the hospital? I hope she dies next!"

A new message from Serena popped up at the top of my notifications.

"Chloe, I had to bring up the past. My hands were tied. You understand, right?"

"If you hadn't pushed me, I would never want to hurt you..."

Her fake concern barely covered her real threat.

"Just apologize, and I'll clear your name."

Serena wanted to threaten me into submission.

But she forgot that I wasn't that helpless college girl anymore. I had the power to protect myself now.

"I won't admit to things I didn't do."

After typing that, I blocked both of them.

My hands were shaking, but my heart was cold and steady.

I stood up, but accidentally knocked over a pile of folders on the side table.

From that folder—the one Ethan had strictly forbidden me from ever touching—a piece of paper slipped out.

It was a pregnancy test report.

And the name printed on it was Serena's.

I froze on the spot, unable to move a muscle.

I couldn't breathe.

The print date was exactly three days ago.

Our five-year anniversary.

I remembered how Ethan had claimed he had an urgent business meeting that night and promised to make it up to me.

I had been worried he would be lonely and tired, so I had cooked a beautiful dinner and waited for him until midnight.

It turned out he already had someone else keeping him warm.

My grip on the paper tightened until my knuckles turned white.

I walked out, hailed a cab, and drove straight to Serena’s studio.