"Apologize to Sara. Now. Admit your mistake, or I'll have your father come down here and teach you some manners."

I looked at Adrian. At how tightly he held her. At the depth of tenderness and heartache in his eyes—something I had never witnessed in our years together.

It wasn't that his personality was naturally cold.

It wasn't that he was too busy with work to care.

It was simply that I wasn't the one he loved.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. I plucked the cigarette from the fingers of the male model beside me, took a long, hard drag, and blew a cloud of smoke directly into Adrian's face.

"Adrian Vance." My voice dripped with disdain. "You want me to apologize to a mistress? Are you insane, or is your skull full of water?"

I stepped closer, eyes locking onto his—

And jammed the burning end of the cigarette onto the back of his hand.

"Leash your dog," I hissed. "Don't let it bark at me. Push me too far, and I'll drag the entire Vance family down to hell with me."

Adrian hissed through his teeth, jerking his hand away. Reflexively, he raised his arm to strike—

But the male model stepped in, shielding me with his own body.

"Mr. Vance." The model's voice was smooth as silk. "You can't hit a woman. Especially not such a beautiful one."

Adrian watched me—tucked safely in another man's arms, my hand resting casually on the model's waist.

His control snapped.

"Hailey Henson," he roared. "You actually came to a club to find gigolos? You just gave birth, and you're this desperate?"

Sara supported Adrian as he straightened, shooting me a look of triumphant mockery. "Adrian, maybe Miss Henson has always been... hungry. Remember back then? She was stripped naked and groped by eighteen thugs, and she didn't get hurt at all. Maybe she enjoyed it. Maybe she had the time of her life playing with eighteen men."

Adrian's expression twisted. His gaze filled with a cruel, resentful light.

"Hailey." His voice was a sneer. "Back then, when they stripped you... why didn't you resist?"

He stepped forward, words like acid. "Is it really like Sara said? Did you sleep with all eighteen of them? Did you beg those thugs to ravage you?"

I stared at him.

The blood drained from my face.

This was the man I had adored. The man I had loved.

His words were ice blades, stabbing straight into my heart.

I pushed the model aside and rose slowly. My eyes were bloodshot as I glared at him.