Chapter 4

Lewis fell quiet for a couple of seconds, then laughed.

"Noreen, you saw it yourself. Ida and I are registering the marriage."

My gaze didn't waver. "And?"

He studied my eyes for a moment, then sighed.

"Since you already know, let me put it plainly."

"You and I can't marry in this life. But that doesn't mean I feel nothing for you."

"I'll buy you a villa of your own, somewhere off to the side. Whatever you want, just tell me. I won't shortchange you."

I looked at how self-evident he thought all this was, and it just struck me as absurd.

"Lewis, I have no interest in playing your kept bird. And the man I'm marrying isn't you."

He frowned. "Don't say things you don't mean. I never once thought about leaving you."

"Even after I register with her, nothing between us changes. You won't get any less than what's owed to you. Understand?"

The words disgusted me so much I couldn't open my mouth.

He took my silence for agreement and pulled me toward Ida.

"Good, you've thought it through. I'll be there while you and Ida clear the air. This has to be faced sooner or later."

Pain shot through my wrist. I pulled hard to break free, but his grip was like a clamp.

All I could do was let him drag me right up to Ida.

Her eyes dropped to our joined hands for a second, and her expression went cold.

The others saw me too, and the smiles froze on their faces.

Lewis spoke. "She already knows."

Yara let out a breath.

"Good that she knows. Saves me from keeping up the act."

She looked at me. "You had no idea, did you? I only got close to you to keep an eye on you for Ida."

I looked at the impatience on her face, and against my will, certain scenes flashed through my mind.

Every year she'd message me the moment the clock struck midnight to wish me happy birthday.

When I couldn't bring myself to buy meat, she'd show up with crawfish, always claiming she was just craving it, and eat with me.

When she had a fever, I nursed her through the whole night, and when she woke she said she wanted to be my best friend for life.

The time I pulled her out of a drunk man's hands, she clung to me, still shaking, and said, "Noreen, you're so good to me. From now on, anyone who bullies you answers to me first."

Everything I'd taken as her true heart had only ever been lines from her script.

Mom and Dad stepped in front of Ida, their eyes wary.

My brother's face carried open disgust.

"What do you want? Another one of your little games to steal the spotlight?"

I looked at them coldly. "Worthless garbage. What is there here worth fighting over?"

The words had barely left my mouth when Ida's palm cracked across my face.

My ears rang. I pressed a hand to my cheek, and the burn under my fingers seared all the way down to the bottom of my heart.

"Noreen, Lewis is about to register the marriage with me, and you still sneak over here to throw yourself at him? You're the garbage."

"No father to love you, no mother to want you, so you rush to play the mistress?"

Strange looks and low whispers rippled through the crowd.

I slowly lowered my hand. My voice was steady.

"Ida, no one wants to fight you over your man."

"I came here to register a marriage with someone else. The groom will be here any minute."

Lewis's face darkened all at once. He grabbed at me. "Who are you registering with?"

Ida's expression turned ugly. She raised her phone and went live on the spot.

"Still say you're not the mistress?"

"Pawing at my fiancé right in front of me. Noreen, have you no shame?"

"You say you're registering with someone else. Does he know you're pregnant out of wedlock?"

More onlookers gathered, and the ugly abuse drilled into my ears.

"So young and already this far gone. What kind of person becomes a mistress?"

"I hate this type most, using the little bastard in her belly to cause trouble."

"Mistresses deserve to die badly. Anyone who wrecks a family should go to hell."

Trapped in the crowd, I looked instinctively toward Lewis, hoping he'd say one word for me.

But his silence was louder than the slap.

Things were spiraling out of control, and people nearby who'd caught the livestream even came rushing over.

A middle-aged woman shoved to the very front, spat hard at me, and jabbed a finger at my face as she screamed:

"Shameless thing! I'm the one a mistress forced out of my own home with nothing, and seeing your kind makes me sick!"

With that she swung the bag in her hand up, making to slam it down on me.

In that split second.

A hand with clean, sharp knuckles blocked in front of me and drew me steadily into his arms.