Chapter 3

"You're bleeding."

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

Martin bent down and scooped up my dizzy, spinning self, and we went to the hospital.

It wasn't until they'd finished bandaging me that I noticed the cut at the corner of his mouth.

"Jayden did that?"

Martin gave a low "mm," his voice hoarse.

"It's fine, doesn't hurt, ssss…"

There was nothing for it but to bring him back to my place.

He wouldn't let me put ointment on it, so all I could do was press a hot water bottle against it.

"Aren't you afraid Jayden will come after you for it?"

Martin lifted his head at my voice and looked at me, but said nothing.

That afternoon he went back to campus.

I went to find Jayden.

"Let's break up."

Jayden looked at me, his eyes dark.

He couldn't believe I'd actually say something like that.

"Amelia, are you serious?"

"I'm serious." My voice was calm.

Jayden pulled Shirley over into his arms.

"Just because Shirley played a little joke on you?"

I stared at him, disbelieving.

"You call ruining someone's good name a joke?"

When he saw my composure crack, the dark in his eyes melted away, replaced by amusement.

"So that's what you're upset about."

"What's the big deal? You got off on it too, didn't you?"

"Besides, I'm not calling off the wedding just because you slept with someone else."

I gripped the hem of my shirt, my palms sweating.

"Jayden, you really are disgusting."

He froze for a second, then quickly went back to smiling.

"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you."

"I know you and Martin didn't sleep together. The wedding's still on as planned."

"Don't be angry anymore."

He still had one arm around Shirley, yet he reached out with the other to take my hand.

I stepped back.

That move set him off.

"Amelia, don't push it again and again."

"My patience has a limit."

I didn't respond. I just turned and walked away.

I'd thought that was the end of things between him and me.

But when I went back to class Monday, I found the rumors about me had spread across the whole school.

Somewhere it had started that I'd come out of some poor mountain backwater.

That I'd do anything to stay in the big city, so I was marrying Jayden at any cost.

【I heard it was because she wormed her way in that Jayden and his childhood sweetheart couldn't be together.】

【Isn't that just knowingly being the other woman? So gross!】

【If you ask me, Amelia and Martin are the perfect match. One becomes a mistress to stay in the city at any cost, the other becomes a lackey to scrape together some spending money.】

……

It had started as talk about how I was chasing Jayden to escape being poor, clinging to him for a relationship and a title, wrecking the perfect match between him and his childhood sweetheart.

But the more they talked, the more the flavor of it changed.

And now they'd dragged Martin into it too.

These past two days had been rough for Martin and me.

Everywhere we went there were pointing fingers, and we could even hear them discussing and sneering at us.

It had already seriously disrupted our lives.

I went to find Jayden.

And overheard him talking with Shirley.

Shirley said, sounding worried:

"Jayden, I didn't mean to let Amelia's business get out."

"It's blown up so big now, everyone's calling her a mistress."

"What if she really is angry?"

Jayden leaned back against the couch, expression calm.

"Relax, she won't be."

"She's from the mountains. When something like this happens, she'll just come crying and begging me."

"All you've done is give her a way to save face."

I pushed the door open and walked in.

"What way to save face were you planning to give me?"