I'd gone to the auction in secret, outbid everyone under a fake paddle number, and bought the Bloodstone Qilin that had been missing from the Farley collection for over a century. All for Dudley. All so I could surprise him tonight.

I wasn't about to let trash like this ruin it.

I got to my feet slowly. Glen had art class today. Dudley would've gone to pick him up by now and should be back any minute.

I needed to find somewhere to hide so I could surprise him and our son.

But the crowd kept running their mouths, each comment uglier than the last. Some called me shameless. Some called me a tramp. One man actually called me a homewrecker.

I genuinely didn't understand. Were these people blind? Where exactly did they get "homewrecker" from?

Did they just assume that when two women appeared near the same man, one of them had to be the other woman?

I shot a murderous glare at the man who'd called me a homewrecker.

He took one look at the venom on my face and shut his mouth.

But Elliot clearly wasn't done with me. Seeing the defiance still burning in my expression, he let out a cold laugh.

"He called you a homewrecker, and he wasn't wrong."

Elliot walked up to me and leaned in close, his voice pitched low enough for only the two of us to hear. "After all, the one who isn't loved is always the other woman."

Then he turned around and took Gladys's hand, raising it high for everyone to see.

"This is my wife. The only woman I will never betray."

The crowd erupted in cheers. People gushed about what a stand-up guy Elliot Sanchez was, what a responsible man.

I watched the spectacle and felt nothing but bitter amusement. On the day we graduated college, Elliot had said those exact same words to me.

Imogen, you're the only woman I'll ever marry. I will never love anyone else as long as I live.

During the years between our first date and our wedding, I'd believed every syllable. He'd given me no reason not to. He was attentive, responsive, present for me and for our child.

Then Gladys Fox appeared, and all of it crumbled to dust.

But if he could fall in love with Gladys while married to me, what guarantee did Gladys have that he wouldn't do the same to her?

A flicker of pity crossed my face before I could stop it. Elliot caught it, and for a second he looked thrown off, as though he assumed his words had wounded me.