Chapter 1

Lily Warren had leaked a private audio recording of Matthew Quinn and me online.

Overnight, the internet branded me a slut.

Matthew, my own husband, didn't stand up for me. Instead, he kept making excuses for Lily.

He even brought the divorce papers to me himself. "It's just temporary. Move to the villa in the west suburbs for now. I'll come see you tonight."

I took the papers without even glancing at them, flipped to the last page, and signed my name, Charlotte Bennett.

Matthew let out a sigh of relief. "Charlotte, I know you must be upset. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

I accepted his offer with indifference and left. When I came back, I became the most sought-after woman in our social circle.

*****

When Matthew rushed into my office, I was staring at my phone, reading all the nasty comments blowing up online.

[Who knew a high-society lady could sound so slutty? She's just like a whore.]

[Damn, she's so hot in bed. If I were the guy in that audio, I'd be in heaven...]

[Is that even Mr. Quinn in the audio? Did he just get cucked?]

He snatched my phone away, his voice uncharacteristically panicked. "Charlotte, don't look at that. I've already had the legal team handle it. The trending topic's been taken down, and most of the audio has been wiped. I swear, this won't happen again."

I looked up at him, my eyes so dry they hurt, not even a tear left to shed. "Promise? Matthew, what good are your promises? How many times have you made that promise in the last six years?"

He looked away, awkward. "She's only sixteen. She doesn't understand how serious this is."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. "Sixteen? She doesn't understand? Then why did she carefully label the file 'Bedroom Audio of Charlotte Bennett, CEO of Bennett Holdings'? She knew exactly what she was doing. She meant to destroy me."

Matthew reached out to touch me, but I stepped back, avoiding his hand.

"Look," he said, sounding helpless. "I'll have the PR team handle it. It won't touch you. But you can't just assume the worst about a teenager because you're upset."

"Assume the worst?" I let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Do you even hear yourself? She'd been with us for three months when she flushed our wedding rings down the toilet.

"And your excuse was, 'She's just a kid; she doesn't know better.' You swore it would never happen again."

Matthew let out a sigh. "Come on, that was ages ago. She was just ten at the time—"

"And when she was twelve," I cut him off, my voice steady and cold, "she threw watercolor paint in my face at my own birthday party. Humiliated me in front of everyone. And you said the same thing and swore it wouldn't happen again."

He sighed, "Charlotte, come on, that's—"

I sneered, "When she was fourteen, she put laxatives in my coffee and made me look like a fool in front of our business partners. You said it was just a prank, that she was still a kid, and promised it wouldn't happen again."

I stared at him, spelling it out for him. "When she was fifteen, she edited fake nudes of me and spread them all over her school. You said she was just a kid, didn't know any better, and promised..."

I choked up. "I've put up with everything before, but this time, she's trying to nail me to the wall as a slut for everyone to see. And you still want to make excuses for her?"

Desperation flickered in his eyes as he pleaded, "Charlotte, I know you've been wronged, but Lily's still a kid. Can't you forgive her just this once? I swear—"

Before he could finish, I slapped him hard across the face, shutting him up for good.

He froze, a red handprint slowly appearing on his cheek.

"I don't need your promises or your compensation anymore," I said coldly.

With that, I grabbed my bag and headed to the office. Today, I was going to teach Lily a lesson.