“Oh, and one more thing—next week, Ridley and I will be holding the wedding and registering our marriage. I’ll make sure to send you an invitation. You absolutely must come.”
My brows drew together so tightly it hurt. I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
Grinding my teeth, I snapped, “As long as Ridley and I are still married, you two can’t be together!”
Her laughter burst out suddenly, rich with mockery.
“You don’t know? You really don’t know? Your marriage certificate with Ridley is fake! If I want to marry him, I can. You’re the real mistress here!”
Her gloating expression hit me like a blow.
I stared at her, eyes wide in disbelief.
Fake? Our marriage certificate? Impossible! We’d been married for ten years—how could it possibly be fake?
But her certainty left no room for doubt. Fury surged through me.
I stepped forward and grabbed her by the collar, my voice shaking.
“What the hell are you talking about? Make it clear!”
Her eyes flicked toward the doorway—and in the next instant, she let out a loud and pitiful wail.
“Stop hitting me! Agnes, please stop! I swear I’m not trying to steal Ridley from you. He’s just here for the party. It has nothing to do with me!”
She wrenched free of my grip and deliberately threw herself to the floor.
Before I could even react, Ridley burst in like a gust of wind.
He didn’t even glance at me. Instead, he went straight to Lynzee, carefully gathering her into his arms.
“Lynzee, are you alright?” he asked, his voice low with concern.
Only after checking her over did he turn to me. For a moment, I caught a flicker of guilt in his eyes—quickly smothered by anger.
“Agnes!” he snapped. “How could you lay a hand on Lynzee? When did you become such a vicious person?”
His words hit harder than any slap.
Vicious. He was calling me vicious?!
A trace of sorrow welled up in my eyes before I could stop it.
Perhaps he noticed it because his expression shifted—just slightly—as if realizing he might have gone too far.
But before he could speak, the woman in his arms interrupted with a soft, trembling voice.
“Ridley, Agnes must have misunderstood something. She probably saw us standing together and got the wrong idea. You were only here for the party. I just didn’t get a chance to explain before she…”
Her voice trailed off, and right on cue, she revealed a fresh-looking scrape on her leg.
Ridley’s brow furrowed deeply. His gaze toward me turned cold.