Chapter 4

From the phone screen, I saw myself: hair wild, face pasty.

My outdated clothes were covered in stubborn grease stains.

Behind me, a group of female employees, their makeup perfect, their clothes chic, exuded the confident aura of successful career women.

They looked at me with a mix of pity and contempt.

Valerie emerged from their midst.

"Jenna, stop this. It's truly pathetic."

Adam snapped, "Let her scream! She just wants to get me fired, wants the whole family to starve! Go on, make a scene, go live on TikTok, let everyone see!"

It was then that I realized I had no leverage against Adam.

After we got married, I'd completely detached from society, staying home.

And with only a high school diploma, I had zero competitive edge in the job market if we divorced.

He'd also take Lily away from me.

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality. I got up from the floor and said,

"I'll stop. I'm going home."

After that day, I became subservient, terrified of upsetting Adam.

He grew bolder, his shirts often stained with lipstick prints.

Yet, all I feared was him abandoning me.

All I could do was try to use Lily to rekindle Adam's affection for our home.

Thankfully, Adam did truly love Lily.

When he wasn't busy, he even took her to the office to play.

One day, he took her again.

After finishing my chores, I scrolled through my phone.

Quite by accident, I stumbled upon a post.

The title read: "The Runner-Up's Obsession with the First Place."

My heart lurched. A thought flashed through my mind, and I quickly scrolled to the end.

"After yet another loss to him at work, I went to a bar to drown my sorrows. He came to comfort me."

"He asked what I needed. I told him to kiss me, and he did."

"From high school until now, he'd rejected my advances a thousand times, but the thousand-and-first time, he accepted. I took him home, and we made love until the world faded."

"The man who'd always been out of my reach was finally mine, utterly under my spell."

My blood ran cold.

Valerie's liked Adam all along.

And Adam's affair was with Valerie!

I instantly lost all reason. I ran to Adam's company, barging into his office.

Immediately, muffled moans came from the adjoining rest room.

I kicked the door open and saw Valerie, disheveled, straddling Adam.

Blinded by rage, I hurled everything I could get my hands on at them.

A ceramic good luck charm hit Valerie's head, and she bled.

Tears suddenly streamed down my face.

If Adam's betrayal had left me heartbroken, Valerie's betrayal left me utterly devastated.

"We were best friends! How could you do this to me?!"

Valerie wiped the blood from her forehead and said coldly, "I never considered you a friend."

"A pampered, useless thing. All you ever knew how to do was bestow favors from your high horse."

"I hated you. From the moment we first met, I hated you."

I scrabbled for any proof, any shred of evidence to deny her words.

"If you hated me so much," My voice trembled, "why take me in? Why spend all those nights tutoring me?"

Valerie let out a soft, chilling laugh.

"All those times you 'checked' your bag? I was right there. I palmed your pencil at the door, right before you walked into the testing center."

"What?!"

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning.

Valerie giggled, shaking Adam.

"We even have a witness here. Adam, you saw me take the pencil, right?"

Adam's face stiffened, and he turned his head away.

"Oh, don't be shy. You didn't tell Jenna back then, so I knew you had to love me."

In an instant, I felt my blood run cold, my limbs go weak. I nearly collapsed.

"I'll... I'll expose both of you..."

Adam's face darkened, and he roared,

"Jenna! Enough!"

"Think about our daughter!"

Then, his expression shifted, and he looked around frantically.

That's right, Lily? Wasn't she supposed to be here?

Eventually, by checking the security footage, we found Lily's lifeless body under the desk.

Adam and Valerie had been fooling around inside the office, leaving Lily to eat dried fruit by herself outside.

Lily choked on a fruit pit, banging on the door for help, but her cries were drowned out by their sounds.

She tried to reach for the water on the table, but she was too small, she couldn't reach it.

She died silently, just a door away from her own father.

By the time I finished my story, the cafe was dead silent, save for the muffled sniffling.

Mr. Henderson let out a long, weary sigh.

"I never imagined you carried such a weight, Ms. Sterling."

"Five years have passed. Do you still hate your ex-husband?"

I took a slow sip of my coffee, the bitterness a familiar comfort. A faint, unreadable smile touched my lips.

"Adam Hayes, or rather, your boss, is this all he wanted you to find out?"

Mr. Henderson froze, his expression turning flustered.

"Boss? I don't know what you're talking about."

I walked past him, towards a customer who had been sitting quietly in a corner since I arrived, and pulled down his mask.