I bit down hard and swallowed the sob trying to tear free. I kept walking, spine stiff, refusing to shatter where she could see.
I bought clean clothes from a nearby shop, hands shaking as I folded them into a bag. Then I turned back toward Ethan.
At the elevator, I pressed the button repeatedly, willing the doors to open. When they slid apart, relief flooded me—
Until someone stepped forward.
Marina.
She leaned against the doorway, blocking my path, her perfume sweet and poisonous.
“How’s little Ethan?” she asked lightly. “Dead yet?” She tilted her head. “I told those men to crush his fingers. That way my son could steal the piano spotlight. And when they were done, I ordered them to dump his body on the street like trash.”
“How dare you!”
The words tore themselves from my throat before I even realized, my palm connecting sharply with Marina’s painted cheek.
She screamed immediately, stumbling backward like I had shattered her delicate bones, clutching her face as though it were made of porcelain, her wails high and practiced. Every motion, every breath, every tremble was perfect, rehearsed to perfection.
Gasps swept through the crowd. Whispers erupted like wildfire.
“Did you see that?”
“Poor Marina!”
“Vivienne has completely lost it.”
“That’s Mr. Dominic’s wife—why is she striking her?”
All eyes dug into me, sharp and accusing, but I didn’t care. Not anymore.
“You think I haven’t seen through you?” I shouted, my voice raw and shaking with years of silent fury. “You slithered into my life, whispered lies into Dominic’s ear, poisoned his heart against me. You destroyed my family! And now—you tried to kill my son!” The words ripped from me, every syllable scorched with truth. “You can smear your face with tears and pretend to be fragile, but I know exactly what you are—a scheming, venomous snake!”
Marina’s sobs intensified, her head shaking as if she were the wronged angel. The crowd’s hearts softened for her, but I saw the poison beneath.
Then Dominic’s voice rolled like thunder behind me.
“Vivienne!”
I spun just in time to see his hand rise. The slap struck me with brutal force, knocking me backward.
He loomed over me, every inch the tyrant. “After trying to poison my son, you dare touch the woman I loved first? If it weren’t for that cursed arranged marriage, Marina would have been my wife!”
The murmurs of the onlookers grew louder, whispers slicing the air.