Chapter 7

"Tat... tattooed?"

Cyrus looked like he'd been struck by lightning, covering his eye corner, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

Sebastian took a handkerchief from his assistant with distaste, methodically wiping the finger that had just touched Cyrus's chin.

As if it had been contaminated by some lethal bacteria.

"You didn't know?" Sebastian's tone was casual but every word hit home. "This mole of mine. When I was five, I got scratched by a tree branch while saving Viv. The scar later became a mole."

"It's a badge of honor."

He tossed the handkerchief into a nearby trash can. "Whereas that one on your face reeks of crude industrial saccharine."

The crowd erupted.

So Miss Sterling hadn't loved the mole. She'd loved that history of childhood sweethearts, of life-saving devotion.

Cyrus had become a complete joke.

His proud "substitute credentials" had transformed into a farcical imitation in this moment.

"No... I don't believe it! Vivienne,say something!"

Cyrus tried to lunge forward, but security kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him to his knees again.

He looked up at me, his eyes full of panic and pleading. "Vivienne,it's me, Cyrus. We've been together three years. Even without merit, I've worked hard. You can't be this heartless..."

I nestled in Sebastian's embrace, feeling only infinite exhaustion.

Looking at that man sobbing on the ground, I wondered if I'd been blind the past three years.

"Cyrus."

I spoke, my voice soft. "These three years, every cent you spent came from the returns on what Sebastian left me."

"The cars you drove. He ordered them before he died. The villa you lived in. He designed it. Even your existence only had value because you resembled him."

"Now the real deal is back. Don't you find it disgusting? You fake, spending the real deal's money and trampling all over him?"

"Throw him out." Sebastian didn't want to hear another word. Holding my waist, he turned. "Don't dirty her eyes."

Security dragged Cyrus and the now-terrified rich woman out like dead dogs.

Before the doors closed, Cyrus's heart-wrenching shouts could still be heard.

"Vivienne! You'll regret this! That man disappeared for three years. Who knows what he did out there! Only I truly cared about you!"

The doors slammed shut.

The world grew quiet.