Chapter 4

I couldn't hold back anymore. My hand cracked across Austin's twisted face.

I was so furious I could barely get the words out. "I really regret—"

"Regret what?" Austin cut in. "Regret not cleaning up your filthy affairs so I wouldn't have to see it with my own eyes? Regret that I said it out loud?"

"What, Tilda Matthews? So even you can feel ashamed?"

"Even you can lose it out of embarrassment?"

"When you were doing all these disgraceful things, why didn't you think about me? Why didn't you think about my dad!"

"If it weren't for what you did, why would my dad have refused to come back for eighteen years!"

Against his shouting, I only shook my head, my voice very quiet.

"What I regret is choosing you as my child."

Austin fired back at once. "If I had a choice, I'd rather go with my dad than stay with you."

"With a mother who's a party girl like you, who wouldn't be ashamed!"

As if to confirm his words, whispers rose all around.

"Ms. Matthews may be brilliant in business, but everyone's heard about her reputation with men."

"You can't even blame the boy for saying that. With a mother tangled up with one man after another, who could stand it?"

"And Mr. Vance has a wife and a child. For Ms. Matthews to go throwing herself at him as the other woman, that's beyond shameless."

"I hear Mr. Vance's wife is a Galloway of Metropolis City, and famously not someone to cross. If she found out, Matthews Group probably wouldn't survive till tomorrow."

The words had barely settled when a sharp voice carried in from beyond the door.

"Julian Vance, do you have a death wish!"

I followed the sound. Mr. Vance's wife, Zoe Galloway, walked in.

Gasps went around the room. "Ms. Matthews is finished now. The real deal's here. Matthews Group is going under tonight."

Even Austin looked ready to enjoy the show.

"Don't blame me for calling her here. You did something to wrong these people, so you deserve to be taught a lesson."

"As your son, I just don't want you sinking deeper into it."

I caught on fast. "You called Zoe Galloway here?"

Austin put on that look of doing it all for my own good. "Mom, you've raised me all these years, it wasn't easy. So why couldn't you just be a decent mother instead of always getting tangled up with other men?"

"Someone like you won't understand you're wrong until you suffer for it. Once Mr. Vance's wife has taught you a lesson, you'll finally be scared enough to see it."

"And then I'll be able to bring my dad back."

That stunned me even more. "So you smeared me, you ruined my name today, just to bring your dad back?"

"What else?" Austin threw at me. "You cover everything up. How am I ever supposed to find my dad?"

I spoke slowly, one word at a time. "So it doesn't matter to you if Matthews Group, the company I built with my own hands, gets destroyed?"

"From what you're saying today, you weren't going to give it to me anyway. So what does it matter to me whether Matthews exists?"

Then he looked at me, gloating. "Do something wrong and you pay for it. Mom, you'll just have to take it in a minute."

I turned to look elsewhere. Zoe Galloway was walking toward me.

Austin was still talking. "When she hits you in a minute, don't make a scene. It's all what you deserve."

Zoe stopped in front of me and looked at me for a long moment.

"Tilda Matthews, what's the meaning of summoning only Julian Vance?"

"What? Now that you're looking at me, you've got nothing to say?"

I didn't answer.

Instead it was Austin who played the "good guy," rushing to "explain" on my behalf.

"Mrs. Vance, please forgive my mom. She didn't mean to wreck your marriage."

"She really knows she was wrong now."

Zoe raised her hand high…

I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch.

"You shameless little wretch!"

The next second, a hard slap landed with perfect aim across Austin's face.