"Right, if you don't let the cops straighten someone like her out, who knows what she'll do next."

"She just barged into your home and attacked you. What if she comes back and actually hurts someone?"

"No, that's not—"

Delilah's eyes darted sideways. Terrified of being exposed, she forced the words through gritted teeth. "I... I know her."

The coworkers exchanged bewildered glances. "You actually know her? Who is this lunatic?"

"She's..."

I watched Delilah stammer and stall.

She clutched the hem of her blouse, knuckles white, and turned her most pitiful gaze on Allan, silently begging him to speak for her.

A second later, the man stepped in front of her. His eyes locked on mine, sharp with irritation.

"Katherine, if there's something to discuss, we'll do it in private. Today is Delilah's birthday. She's been looking forward to it for a long time, and I don't want her disappointed."

His voice hardened at the end. "Don't embarrass me and her in front of all these people."

I stared at this man I'd spent five years with, and for a moment, it was like looking at a stranger.

He was cheating on me without a shred of guilt and now expected me to cover for his mistress. To protect their dignity.

And what about mine?

I was supposed to just take it. Supposed to let them carry on right under my nose, play me for a fool, and smile through it.

The fury and indignation boiling inside me had already eclipsed whatever pain the betrayal itself had caused.

I tilted my head, a smile that wasn't really a smile curving my lips. "Allan, do you even know what today is? You two have been sneaking around behind my back, and now you want me to keep your secret? Do you honestly think I owe you that courtesy?"

My gaze cut straight to the male coworker holding his phone. "Call the police. If you won't dial, I will."

That sent Delilah into a genuine panic. She whipped around to face the group, her voice pitched high and sweet.

"It's all a misunderstanding. We know each other. There are just some things we need to sort out today, so why don't you all head back? Allan and I will treat everyone to dinner another time."

She said it with the breezy authority of a hostess in her own home.

A cold laugh escaped me. "You and Allan treating people to dinner? With whose money? Every dollar he has comes from our—"

"Katherine, that's enough!"

Allan's voice sliced through mine, low and dangerous.

With Allan firmly at her side, Delilah's confidence swelled. She straightened her shoulders and looked me dead in the eye.

"Miss Gilbert, I truly had no idea you harbored these kinds of feelings. My husband only visited your little bakery because I have a sweet tooth, and somehow you developed a crush on him. Now you've followed us all the way here on a business trip, showed up at our door uninvited. Don't you think that's a bit much?"

I almost laughed out loud at the sheer audacity. The thief screaming "thief."

"Delilah, you're calling me a bakery clerk. Then what exactly are you?"

"I'm Mrs. Delgado." She lifted her chin. "Everyone here can vouch for that."

The heavily made-up woman was the first to chime in. "Of course she's Mrs. Delgado. Every time Mr. Delgado comes here on business, she's right by his side. We've met her plenty of times. You think we'd get that wrong?"

She turned to the others for confirmation. "We've had dinner with her more times than I can count. How could we not recognize her?"

Heads nodded all around.

"Take a good look in the mirror before you dream about being with Mr. Delgado. You need to apologize to him and his wife right now."

"Mrs. Delgado is being generous, calling it a misunderstanding to save your face. You came here to be a homewrecker, and the most pathetic part? Nobody even wants you."

So that was why every time Allan was away on business and I called Sweet Bliss to order pastries, Delilah always claimed the shop was closed for personal reasons.

She'd been with my husband the whole time.

And now that I'd caught them red-handed, she had the nerve to turn it around on me.

I drew a long, steadying breath. "You say you're Mrs. Delgado. What proof do you have?"

Delilah threaded her arm through Allan's, pressing herself against him with sickening familiarity. "Do I need proof? My husband is standing right here. Go ahead, ask him yourself."

Allan glanced at me, then looked down at Delilah and tipped her chin up with his fingers, indulgent as ever.

"You. I've already introduced you to everyone at the office, threw you a birthday party myself. You're my woman. Does that really need proving?"

His answer was exactly what I'd expected. I knew he would side with Delilah.

So from the very beginning, I had never hoped he would side with me.

Still, I noticed he'd said my woman. He hadn't actually called her Mrs. Delgado.

"Miss Gilbert, what else is there to say?" Delilah's lips curled into a triumphant smile, every word a calculated barb. "Allan loves me. No matter what tricks you pull to hurt me, he'll never love you. Stop embarrassing yourself."

Allan shot me a look that said leave.

I let out a cold laugh. "Sure. I see you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin."

Before she could respond, I'd already opened my handbag.

Under Delilah's stunned gaze, I held up the business card for everyone in the room to see.

"You all graduated from top universities. I'm sure you can read what's printed here. But just in case, allow me."

I read each word, slow and deliberate:

"Sweet Bliss Dessert Boutique. Manager: Delilah James."

"I won't bother reading the phone number. But if anyone still has doubts, I'm happy to dial it right now."

The color drained from Delilah's face. She clutched Allan's sleeve, knuckles white.

The others turned to look at her, their expressions shifting from curiosity to suspicion.

Dawn stepped forward again to defend her. "So what? What does that prove? Mr. Delgado has plenty of money. He can't open a little dessert shop for his wife? You're so desperate for a man you've lost your mind, barging in here trying to steal someone's husband."

Delilah's eyes welled with tears, her voice trembling with rehearsed hurt. "Miss Gilbert, is this what your parents raised you to be? This shameless? Publicly clawing at another woman's husband, is that something to be proud of? Your parents must be so disappointed they ever brought you into this world."

Crack.

I grabbed a fistful of her hair. "Delilah, I wasn't planning on slapping you this soon. But you just couldn't help yourself. This man is garbage. You want him? He's yours. You're welcome to love trash. But you don't get to say a single word about my parents."

"Let go of me! Allan, help me—"

Delilah clawed at my wrist, thrashing wildly.

Dawn shrieked, frantic. "Mr. Delgado! You can't just stand there and watch her get beaten! This woman is insane! Save her!"

Everyone else hung back, watching the spectacle unfold. None of them could tell whose story was true.

Allan hesitated, visibly torn, then finally snapped. "Katherine, let her go! Delilah is my woman. Keep this up and don't blame me for what happens next."

Threat after threat. All for her.

I slapped Delilah hard across the face.

"Allan Delgado, what gives you the right to threaten me? I hit her today. What are you going to do about it?"

Before anyone could move, I landed two more slaps, each one harder than the last.

Delilah screamed. "Allan, save me—"

My hand was already raised for the next blow when Allan caught my wrist. In the same motion, he backhanded me across the face.

The force behind it was enormous.

I hit the floor. My elbow scraped against the ground, and I watched the blood seep from the broken skin. For a moment, all I could see was that night years ago when he'd thrown himself in front of me, taking the knife meant for my body.

He'd promised me once. As long as he was by my side, as long as he still had breath in his lungs, he would never let a single hair on my head be harmed. Never let a single tear fall.

But now...

Every last bit of this pain was delivered by his own hand.

All his tenderness, all his concern, belonged to another woman.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and dabbed at the blood on my elbow. That bone-deep sting was exactly the same as it had been years ago.

The man standing before me was no longer the man I once knew.

"Katherine, you brought this on yourself!"

Allan cradled Delilah's face, stroking it gently, the fury in his eyes unmistakable.

"You insist on making a scene. What good does that do you?"

I picked myself up off the floor. I was about to speak when my gaze drifted upward and caught on something at Delilah's neckline: a jade pendant, peeking out from beneath her collar.

My grandmother's jade pendant.

"Delilah James, where did you get that pendant? It's mine!"

I lunged forward and seized her collar, trying to wrench it free.

Delilah clutched at her neck, twisting away from me. "Yours? Allan gave this to me. He said the jade was the perfect complement to my fair skin."

Allan.

Always Allan.

"Allan Delgado, you knew this was the only thing my grandmother left me. You knew what she meant to me. I kept that pendant locked away like it was sacred. What gave you the right to hand it over to her?"

Allan pulled Delilah into his arms. "Katherine, it's a pendant. Delilah liked it. Is that really worth losing your mind over? You've gone completely insane."

My chest heaved with rage.

Dawn and Allan formed a wall around Delilah. I couldn't get anywhere near the pendant. Instead, Dawn grabbed a fistful of my hair and shoved me backward.

I whipped around and slapped her across the face. "This is between the three of us. Who the hell are you?"

Dawn staggered, stunned. She moved to come at me again, but the other employees stepped in, holding her back.

"Dawn, just stay out of it. Something about this doesn't add up."

"I was thinking the same thing. This Miss Gilbert, the way she carries herself, the way she talks, she doesn't seem like the other woman. If anything, it's the boss's wife... no, wait, this Miss James..."

"Forget it. Just watch."

The whispers rippled through the room. Delilah's composure cracked, color flooding her cheeks. Afraid the truth was about to spill, she ripped the pendant from her neck in one vicious motion.

"Miss Gilbert, I don't know if what you're saying is true or not, but you obviously care about this little trinket. So here, it's yours!"

She raised her arm and hurled it across the room.

"No!"

My pupils contracted. I threw myself forward on pure instinct, desperate to catch it, but she'd flung it too high. All I could do was watch as it struck the floor and shattered into pieces.

I dropped to my knees. With trembling hands, I gathered the broken fragments, pressing them together on my palm, trying to piece them back into shape. One corner was missing.

I forgot about dignity. I forgot about everything. My hands swept across the cold floor, searching.

My grandmother had died saving me. I couldn't lose the only piece of her I had left.

Grandma.

"Miss Gilbert, is this what you're looking for?"

A man in black-rimmed glasses crouched down and held out a small shard of jade.

I thanked him quickly, my voice raw.

I recognized him. When I'd been reviewing resumes, I was the one who had fast-tracked his hire.

"Oh, how clumsy of me! I threw it a little too hard." Delilah's voice dripped with mock sympathy. "But honestly, maybe it's for the best. You said it belonged to a dead woman. That's creepy, if you think about it. She's dead and gone. Who actually treasures something that morbid? It's pathetic."

Her laughter cut through the air like broken glass.

Then Allan's impatient voice again: "Katherine, look at yourself right now. It was a worthless jade pendant. Delilah liked it, so I gave it to her. What's the big deal? Now it's broken and you have no one to blame but yourself, crawling around crying on the floor. I told you today is Delilah's birthday. Whatever issues you have, they can wait. But no, you had to come here and ruin everything."