Chapter 3

Sunday afternoon sunlight streamed through the penthouse windows, casting deceptively cheerful patterns across the marble foyer. I was arranging fresh lilies in a crystal vase when the doorbell rang with an ominous finality that made my stomach clench.

I hadn't expected visitors. Marcus was at his office—or so he claimed—and I'd been looking forward to a quiet day alone with my thoughts and the secret growing inside me.

When I opened the door, my blood turned to ice. Victoria stood there, resplendent in a crimson dress that hugged her perfect figure, flanked by Chloe Vanderbilt and two other women whose faces had haunted my nightmares since prep school. Their synchronized smiles held the same predatory gleam I remembered from the hallways of Westfield Academy.

"Surprise, Bella," Victoria purred, brushing past me into my home as if she owned it. The others followed, a pack of wolves entering their hunting ground. "We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd stop by for a little... reunion."

I stood frozen, my hand still on the doorknob. "Marcus isn't home," I managed to say, my voice embarrassingly small.

Victoria's laugh was like breaking glass. "Oh, we know exactly where Marcus is. We came to see you."

Behind them, Alexander Pierce, the caterer I'd hired for next week's dinner party, arrived with sample platters. His eyes darted between us, sensing the tension.

"Perfect timing," Victoria said, gesturing him in. "You can be our audience."

Chloe pulled out her phone and connected it to our wall-mounted television with practiced ease. "We found something you might enjoy, Bella. A little walk down memory lane."

The screen flickered to life, and my heart stopped. There I was, sixteen years old, mascara streaming down my face as Victoria cut chunks of my hair in the dormitory. The footage jumped to senior prom, where I stood alone in a blue gown while the entire class turned their backs. Then came the swimming pool incident, where they'd stolen my clothes and left me nothing but a towel in December.

"We kept all the greatest hits," Victoria said, her voice thick with satisfaction. "Social media might love this compilation, don't you think?"

Alexander stood awkwardly by the kitchen door, sample platters in hand, witnessing my humiliation.

"Please leave," I whispered, but the words evaporated in the vastness of the foyer.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Chloe taunted. "Aren't you enjoying our little showcase? Your husband certainly found it entertaining when Victoria showed him."

Something inside me cracked—a fault line that had been forming since I'd overheard Marcus's conversation. The revelation that he'd seen these videos, that he'd participated in my mockery, was the final tremor.

"I said, GET OUT!" The scream tore from my throat, primal and unfamiliar.

Before I could register what was happening, my body moved of its own accord. I lunged at Victoria, my nails raking across her perfect face, leaving four angry red lines from cheek to jaw.

"You psychotic bitch!" she shrieked, stumbling backward.

The other women scattered like startled birds. Alexander dropped the platters with a crash, porcelain and canapés scattering across imported marble.

In that moment of chaos, the front door opened again. Marcus stood there, my brother James at his side, both men frozen in tableau at the scene before them.

"What the hell is going on?" Marcus demanded, rushing to Victoria's side. His fingers gently traced the marks on her face, his concern for her more intimate than any touch he'd given me in months.

"Your wife attacked me," Victoria sobbed, leaning into his chest. "She's completely unstable."

James stepped forward, his face thunderous. "Jesus Christ, Bella, what's wrong with you?"

I looked between them—my husband and my brother—both instinctively shielding the woman who had tormented me for most of my life. The betrayal was so complete, so perfect in its symmetry, that a strange calm settled over me.

"She showed me videos," I said quietly. "Of everything she did to me. Everything you both knew about and never stopped."

"So you physically assault her?" Marcus's voice was cold with disgust. "Apologize to Victoria. Now."

James nodded in agreement. "You've always been dramatic about Victoria, but this is beyond acceptable. If you can't control yourself, there will be consequences. Financial ones."

The threat hung in the air—my brother could cut me off from the family trust fund with a single phone call.

I looked at the three of them, a unified front against me, and something final and irreversible shifted in my heart.

The baby inside me would never know these people. I would make sure of it.