Chapter 2

I set down my teacup, stood up, and slapped her across the face.

"So I hit you. What of it?"

"You, you damned bitch, how dare you hit me."

"If I'd known back then, I would have given you even more outrageous demands, told you to pile it on and keep smearing me as trash who's slept with countless men."

"So this is the rumor you made up about me just to prove how capable you are?"

"And what if it is?"

I curled my lips into a cold smile, and the chill in my eyes vanished in an instant.

Ava was a little thrown.

"Why aren't you angry?"

I tilted my head slightly and stared at her. "Take a guess."

Ava's eyes darted around, then she snapped her head up to look at me.

"You bitch, are you livestreaming this too???"

I nodded, satisfied. "Yes."

She ruined my good name, so I made it come back to bite her.

Wanting to be a miracle doctor through cheap tricks? Keep dreaming.

The live stream chattered on without stopping. I didn't read any more of it.

All I cared about was that my good name had been returned to me. Ava's face was flushed red with fury.

"Eugenia Henson, you dare scheme against me!"

"Just returning the favor."

With that, I turned and walked out.

She chased after me to hit me, but the bodyguards behind her held her back.

"Ava, you shouldn't have crossed me."

"Argh! You bitch, Egbert won't let you get away with this."

She was right. Egbert came to my private mansion that very night.

The door was kicked open, and this time he'd doubled the number of bodyguards.

I sat calmly on the leather sofa, not the least bit rattled by his arrival.

"Eugenia, why did you have to destroy Ava's career like that?"

"I did knock the hype down, but her career is finished too."

"Her reputation's ruined now. How is she supposed to face anyone?"

"Can't you cut her some slack? She's only twenty-three."

So it turned out he cared a great deal about Ava's reputation, but forgot that I was only two years older than her, and that my reputation mattered just as much to me.

It suddenly struck me how exhausting it is to argue with someone who plays favorites.

"If she were actually good at her job, how would any of this have happened?"

"No matter how much you favor her, you still have to face the facts. Do you really think letting someone like her save lives, she could carry that weight on her shoulders?"

"You bitch, it's not your place to comment."

Ava walked in, her eyes red and swollen.

Egbert turned to look at her, and his tone softened along with it.

"Ava, why did you come?"

"I want Eugenia to kneel and apologize to me."

"And on a live stream, too."

I looked at her coldly and didn't move a muscle.

Egbert soothed her gently, and it truly got to me.

"What are you still sitting there for? Get up and apologize."

I looked up at him.

"Egbert, this is one apology I won't make."

The air around us went suddenly quiet, and his brow signaled deep displeasure.

"If you refuse to apologize, you know I have plenty of ways to deal with you."

I laughed out loud, but it felt like something was lodged in my throat, and it made my chest ache too.

I put away my bitter smile.

"Egbert, five years ago, when your Gilbert family was in crisis, when you and your father were out begging people to invest and pull the Gilberts through, who was it that helped you?"

He didn't look away from me. He met my cold stare head-on.

"Stop using that to guilt me over and over. I've already given you what I owed you."

"The position of wife, the oceanfront home, my love included."

"Ava has none of that. All she can do is call me her brother. What's wrong with me protecting her?"

Ava's eyes were even redder than before, and she nestled against his chest like a terrified little rabbit.

"Egbert, I'm afraid your mother will blame me, since the conflict between you and her is because of me."

"Don't worry, my mother won't."

"Love me, love my dog."

"The Hensons may have helped me, but one thing is one thing and another is another."

When he was done, he turned his gaze back to me.

"You know I have no patience."

"And you know I won't apologize."

My refusal turned his expression to ice.

Before he left, he said one thing: "People always break their own rules when they're in a tight spot."