Chapter 3

A red mark bloomed instantly across my cheek.

Zachary grabbed Hannah's arm. "Hann, what are you doing?"

Hannah rubbed her wrist as she spoke with childlike mischief, "I heard one of the best parts of being married is putting the other woman in her place. Well, figured I'd try it out myself. Honestly? Pretty satisfying."

Then, Hannah continued nonchalantly, "What, I'm not allowed?"

Something flickered across Zachary's face as if he was holding his own anger. In the end, he just shook his head.

"No, it's fine." He turned to me. "Kate, you should go. People are already filming this. If it gets out, it will hurt you. I'm doing this for your own good."

For my own good? Again?

Zack never invited me to have dinner with his family because he'd given the diamond family heirloom ring to Hannah instead. If I were to show up, people would talk behind his back. So, this whole "for my own good" was just his trick to safe his own image.

He'd made me switch wedding dress shops from the the one I'd picked after weeks of research. All of that because he'd already taken Hannah there. If I showed up, people might get the wrong idea. Switching shops was "for my own good."

Every single time, I'd told myself to understand his actions. But enough is enough!

Around us, people kept filming and mutterred how Hannah had been right to slap me.

"I'm posting this online. Someone needs to call this out. How is this any different from harassment?"

I pulled out my phone and looked around at them. "I'm not the other woman here! If you all care so much about doing "justice", don't you think you should know the truth first?"

I started pulling up my messages with Zachary.

The next second, my phone was ripped out of my hand and smashed onto the ground. The screen cracked instantly.

My eyes burned. I lunged to grab it but Zachary kicked it before I could. It slammed into the edge of a flower bed and shattered into pieces. There was no fixing it now.

"Zachary! Are you out of your mind?!"

That phone held every message I'd ever exchanged with my father before he passed away. The model was so old I could never back it up. That's exactly why I'd never replaced it, glitches and all.

Zachary knew that. He knew all of it yet he still broke it.

That guy saw the tears spill down my face, and for a second, something in his expression cracked. But all he said was, "You started it! You're trying to ruin Hann's reputation!"

I dropped to the ground, scrambling through the broken pieces, searching for the memory card. It was nowhere.

"Looking for this?" Hannah held up the tiny card between two fingers.

I lunged toward her. "Give it back!"

The next second, she snapped it clean in half.

"No—!" Something inside me finally broke. My vision went red, and I ran straight at her.

Before I could reach her, Hannah stumbled back two steps, wobbling like she was about to fall.

Then a force shoved me backward. I hit the ground hard, palms scraping against the rough pavement, pain shooting through my hands.

I looked up. Zachary had pulled Hannah into his arms, shielding her.

He checked her over anxiously. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hannah shook her head, squeezing out a few tears. "Zack, I just thought her phone looked so old, I figured it didn't matter if it broke. I'll buy her a new one, big deal."

"She's the one who crashed our wedding registration and caused a scene, and I didn't even say anything. Why did she just shove me?"

Zachary's brow furrowed deep with anger. "Katlyn. Apologize to Hann. Now."

I kept my head down, refusing.

That's when Tina lost her patience. "Zack already explained everything, and you wouldn't listen! Now you're trying to hurt Hann too? Get on your knees and apologize to her right now."

Tina continued, "Or I'll have Zack make sure your mother loses her care at Reynolds Medical Center."