Chapter 3
"No way!" Ryan burst out, leaping to his feet; then, realizing he'd been too harsh, he softened his posture.
He said, "We have a daughter. Can you really stand to let her grow up without a dad?
"What if the other kids make fun of her?"
I shot him a glare and shot back, "A dad who'd rather hook up with other women and doesn't give a damn about his own kid? Who needs a father like that?"
With that, I turned and walked out the door.
I'd already dropped Lily off at my parents' place. Even though I was dead set on getting a divorce, I still didn't want her to hear me and Ryan fighting.
The next day, just as I was pulling together the divorce papers, hashtags: [Yvonne Cheating on Her Husband] and [Yvonne Caught Sneaking Around with a Young Stud Late at Night] shot straight to the top of the trending list.
When I opened the trending post, there were photos of me and my assistant walking side by side in the underground parking lot.
The crazy thing was, Ryan was literally right there that night, but the pictures just happened to miss him somehow.
I refused to believe it was a mere coincidence.
My agent stormed onto the phone, fuming. She demanded, "What the hell is going on? These photos are everywhere.
"And what's up with that woman calling herself your sister? Is she actually your sister, or has she lost her mind?"
While I tried to explain to my agent what happened that night, I clicked the link she'd sent me.
It was from a user called RyanFan4Life.
She claimed to be my sister, Sophie, and even posted a picture of our family ID to prove it.
She wrote: [My sister's been cheating on Ryan for ages. I couldn't just watch everyone get fooled, so I had to come out and spill the truth.
[Ryan's been busting his butt at home for the family, while my sister keeps sneaking out with random guys in the middle of the night.
[Ryan totally knows, but he just can't bear to let go of her or their daughter, so he won't file for divorce.]
She also posted a bunch of screenshots, supposedly showing steamy chats between me and some random guy.
I honestly had no memory of ever saying any of that.
They were all fake.
But of course, the internet just ate it up.
One commented: [Yvonne has been totally caught—why hasn't she come out and apologized yet?]
Another commented: [Can't believe she's really like that. So much for their perfect couple act.]
One comment read: [Yvonne just has that sneaky, seductress vibe—no way she's a good person.]
It felt like something was squeezing my heart so tight that I could barely breathe, my chest heaving but no air coming in.
Just what did I get in return for all the patience and forgiveness I showed Ryan and Sophie?
I'd always doted on Sophie since we were kids.
I'd save all the good snacks for her and even hand over my pocket money so she could buy whatever she wanted.
Whenever she got into trouble as a kid, I was always the one who took the blame for her—more than once, I got smacked for it.
Even after I saw that video of her getting cozy with Ryan, I just told myself she was young and didn't really know what she was doing.
I figured I'd deal with the divorce first, then sit her down and have a real talk.
I never imagined she'd be in such a rush to bring me down.
I knew Ryan must have handed that photo of me and my assistant over to Sophie.
All that pleading from Ryan yesterday was just to get me to let my guard down.
If I'd let my guard down for even one night, he'd have used it to play the victim and turn the whole thing around on me.
Lucky for me, I'd got this weird habit of snapping pics of my food before I dug in. That little quirk might just be the thing that saved me now.