Chapter 1
The moment I won the national dance championship, the entire internet accused me of riding on Edward Sinclair's coattails.
Offstage, Edward stood pale-faced, staring at the surveillance footage of me entering the hospital years ago with a pregnant belly. He thought I was still hung up on that child.
He probably believed that with just a snap of his fingers, my dance career would be over forever.
But what he didn't know was that the very woman who once threw two million at me to leave her son, Grace Sinclair, had not only become my biggest fan, but also personally took down the first love he cherished so much.
Grace said, "Edward may be clueless, but I'm not. With talent like yours, that award was yours to take."
*****
I stood dead center on the stage, the spotlight hitting me as the crowd erupted in applause.
The host said, "Congratulations to Rachel Hayes for winning the gold award at this year's National Dance Competition."
The host's voice echoed through the theater as I took the trophy, and I glanced over at the judges' table, first row.
His seat was empty.
He wasn't here.
Suddenly, the crowd started to stir, whispers rippling through the audience. Just as I was about to give my acceptance speech, my phone started buzzing nonstop.
One of the reporters said, "Ms. Hayes, is it true you and Edward used to be a couple?"
Another reporter asked, "Is it true you two had a child together?"
Reporters swarmed the stage, shoving microphones right in my face.
I gripped the trophy tight and glanced out at the audience. Edward was there, hidden in the shadows of the last row, watching me from the darkness.
His face was ghostly pale, and his hand was gripping the armrest so hard his veins were bulging.
The leaked surveillance footage showed me walking into the hospital, visibly pregnant.
The scene from five years ago was so clear it felt like a slap.
"I don't have a child," I looked straight into the camera and replied.
Edward knew I was lying.
The moment he ditched me for Charlotte White, whatever we had was over before it even began.
Before I hit the red carpet, my agent, Nancy Brooks, repeatedly warned me to steer clear of Charlotte.
She said, "With the Sinclair family backing her, what can you do?"
The Sinclair family pretty much had a stranglehold on all the resources in the dance world.
Back then, everyone used to say that if one wanted fame, one had to ride Edward's coattails.
Crude as it sounded, it was the truth. Any woman connected to Edward always had it easy in the industry.
I was the only one left out.
I was the only woman who ever made it official with Edward, and still almost blacklisted from the industry.
It was all because I crossed his beloved Charlotte.
For five years, no matter how hard I worked or how much my dancing was praised, I could never land any of the top opportunities.
Always being the bridesmaid, all that rejection just wore down every sharp edge I had.
I started avoiding Charlotte like the plague. If she had her eye on a competition, I would just drop out before things got messy.
Maybe all my efforts to stay on her good side finally worked, or maybe she and Edward were about to get married and just didn't want any trouble from me; this time, they threw me a bone and handed me a trophy out of pity.
When Nancy heard the news, she nearly burst into tears. She said, "Rachel, looks like your nightmare is finally over."
Edward finally decided to let me off the hook.
It wasn't my fault we broke up, but there was no way I could ever take on the Sinclair family.
I had already given up ages ago.