Chapter 3

Without even waiting for my answer, Julian unclasped the necklace he had just placed on me and fastened it around Mia's neck instead.

"Julian, my neck definitely does this justice. Look, doesn't it look amazing?" Mia instantly beamed through her tears, twirling around in delight.

Julian chuckled in agreement, his gaze filled with adoration.

"Everything looks good on our Mia. You're a natural model."

Watching the two of them flirt and tease each other, bile rose in the back of my throat.

The necklace that was supposed to be mine hadn't even stayed on my neck for a full minute before becoming a prop to flatter another woman.

I forced a stiff, hollow smirk. "Did you two come over today just to make me sick?"

Mia shook her head with wide, innocent eyes. "Chloe, how can you say that?"

"Julian bought you the Heart of the Ocean just to appease you! He's never even bought me jewelry that expensive!"

"He asked for my advice before coming here. I just got back from overseas and was sleeping off jet lag, but his call woke me right up!"

"Seriously, he's a grown man and doesn't even know how to romance a woman. You really need to train him better, Chloe."

Julian playfully tapped her on the head. "Alright, that's enough. What kind of sister talks about her brother like that in front of an outsider?"

"How am I an outsider? I'm your closest sister!"

In the blink of an eye, the two of them were giggling and messing around again.

The diamonds on Mia's neck flashed across my vision, stinging my eyes.

I silently questioned what momentary madness had possessed me to open the door for them in the first place.

Nearby, Julian was tickling Mia, making her dissolve into breathy laughter.

"Fine, you want to pick on me? I'm showing Chloe all your embarrassing dirt!"

She broke free, scrambled over, and sat right next to me on the couch, pulling out her phone and opening her photo gallery.

My face remained cold. I wanted to see just how low their morals could sink.

She clicked on a video. The screen showed the private study at the Hayes estate.

Julian was reviewing documents at his desk. Mia, dressed in a slinky silk slip nightgown, walked in carrying a glass of warm milk.

She set the milk on the desk, but instead of leaving, she sat directly on Julian's lap.

"Julian, you haven't read me a bedtime story in forever."

Julian put down his pen, looking at her with fond resignation. "How old are you, still asking for bedtime stories?"

Mia looped her arms around his neck, pouting. "I don't care. I want one."

Suddenly, she leaned down and kissed Julian right on the lips.

"That's your deposit."

On screen, Julian froze. Then his Adam's apple bobbed, and his gaze darkened with raw hunger.

He didn't push her away. Instead, his hand slid up her back, his voice dropping to a gravelly rasp.

"You little temptress."

The video cut off abruptly with a violent tremor, clearly showing the person filming had been shaken.

Beside me on the couch, Mia was practically crying with laughter. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

"Chloe, I swear, Julian is such a prude. I was just teasing him, and his face turned red as a tomato."

"Of course, he didn't disappoint me afterward. He carried me back to my room and read to me all night long."

"Honestly, though, Chloe... are things a little dry between you two in the bedroom? Because his reaction was insane."

The video had ended, frozen on Julian's face full of undisguised lust.

Beside her, Julian reached over and flicked Mia's forehead hard.

"What nonsense are you spewing? Chloe and I have a great sex life. You don't need to stick your nose into it."

Mia refused to back down, and the two tumbled into another round of playful wrestling, oblivious to anyone else.

Her phone had been tossed onto the couch cushion. Calmly, I picked it up, forwarded that video—along with several other nauseatingly intimate clips in her hidden album—to my own phone.

Then, I deleted the transmission log.

By the time they wore themselves out, Julian finally remembered I was in the room.

His breathing was slightly ragged as he looked down at me, his tone laced with condescending generosity.

"Alright, you saw it yourself. Even in a situation like that, all I did was read her a story. You're the one in my heart, and that's all that matters."

"So, stop throwing tantrums, okay? Let's just live our lives."

A knot of fury lodged in my chest. He actually thought he was the victim here?

I swallowed the rage whole and smiled, nodding gently.

"Alright. I know I was wrong. I won't do it again."

I was wrong, alright. Wrong for thinking I could just quietly walk away with a clean break.

For scum and a manipulative snake like them, if I didn't drag their reputations through the mud, how could I ever avenge the three years of devotion I'd wasted?