Chapter 3
3.
The next day, I went to my design studio.
The lock had been pried open.
The place was trashed.
Drafts were shredded. Equipment was smashed. Across the main wall, spray-painted in glaring red English letters, was a single word:
HOMEWRECKER.
Those were the designs I had spent three months preparing for an exhibition next month.
Ruined.
I stood in the doorway, listening to the whispers from the neighboring studios.
"I heard Claire Hayes finally signed the divorce papers."
"Dominic is such a good guy. If things got this bad, she definitely did something wrong."
"I bet Dominic caught her cheating."
The familiarity of it made me dizzy.
It was exactly like my past life.
To protect Vanessa, Dominic had spread rumors that I was mentally unstable and that I was the reason the marriage fell apart.
Back then, I had stormed into his company to confront them. Everyone called me crazy. They called me paranoid. They said I was the one creating conflict.
Then came the hospital breakdown, and Dominic used the chaos to lock me away.
I shook off the memory and walked straight up to the people whispering in the hall.
"You want to call me a homewrecker?" I stared them down. "Tell me. Whose home did I wreck?"
Their faces paled. They stammered, unable to form a sentence.
Right on cue, Vanessa appeared at the end of the hallway.
She clicked toward us in her heels, wearing that innocent, helpless smile.
"Who knows, Claire? Only you know the truth."
Her eyes were entirely triumphant.
I looked at her, my expression dead calm.
"Only one person in this room knowingly slept with a married man. Want to guess who?"
Vanessa's face drained of color.
The onlookers froze.
Dominic arrived moments later, immediately stepping in front of Vanessa to shield her.
"Claire, the divorce isn't final yet. Leave Vanessa out of this."
I locked eyes with him.
"So you two are the ones spreading these rumors."
He didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either.
He just said, "Stop it, Claire. If you keep throwing baseless slander around, my lawyers will be in touch."
"Am I going too far?" I turned to Vanessa. "Have I ever mistreated you?"
"I paid your college tuition. I got you your job. I invited you to live in my home after I got married."
"Is this how you repay me?"
Vanessa bit her lip. Her eyes welled with tears, slipping right back into her fragile victim routine.
I looked back at Dominic, enunciating every word.
"You destroyed my life, and you're standing here playing the victim."
"You are the most disgusting person I've ever met."
Dominic's gaze darkened.
But his expression remained restrained, like a tired adult dealing with a petulant child.
He was always like this.
Dignified. Calm. Untouchable.
I stood up straight.
"You think this is ugly, Dominic?"
"Just wait."
I didn't come back to life just to survive. I came back to make them pay.
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, I could hear Vanessa sobbing softly, and Dominic's hushed voice comforting her. "Stop crying, Vanessa. Sit down. I'll call the doctor if we need to."
I picked up my pace and didn't look back once.