I had always been the supportive wife, the woman behind the successful man. I'd always done what Anthony said, so the next day I tied my hair back and set up a flower stand outside Clearview University's gates.

On the wrapping paper of each bouquet, I thoughtfully printed screenshots of Sienna and Anthony's chat messages.

Over the years, I'd been a frequent presence at Clearview. The students and faculty all knew me well. The moment I appeared at the campus gates, students Anthony had taught gathered around.

"Mrs. Rivera, why are you selling flowers out here? Did something happen between you and Dr. Rivera?"

I handed him a wrapped bouquet. "Nothing much. Your professor just needs to support an extra household now.

"Don't laugh at me, but young ladies always want more. I'm worried your professor can't keep up."

I released all my venom, deliberately making cruel, veiled remarks about Anthony and Sienna. Within a day, rumors about Anthony and his young protégée spread like wildfire across campus.

So when I wheeled out my flower cart the second time, a group of thugs rushed over and trampled every flower.

"Lady, someone wants me to give you a message. Drop it before things get worse."

Of course, I didn't take the advice. That same day, I cried my way from the security office to the dean's office, and finally called the mayor's hotline.

Anthony was summoned for a meeting. That evening, he didn't linger at the university. He came home early.

"Brielle, that's enough."

I laughed bitterly. "Enough? We're just getting started, Anthony. You did something disgusting. Are you scared now?"

He sighed heavily and tossed his briefcase onto the couch, his face tight with displeasure. "Brielle, if you hadn't made such a scene, we could've talked this through."

He looked at me like I'd disappointed him. "If this marriage falls apart, you'll only have yourself to blame."

Was he blaming me? Was he blaming me for being hysterical and destroying the superficial harmony of this rotten marriage?

He was the one who'd been unfaithful after 20 years together. Now he stood on moral high ground, accusing me of being unhinged, claiming my erratic behavior had driven him away from our family.

"Anthony, did I make you cheat?"

He laughed coldly. "Brielle, have you forgotten who brought Sienna into this house?"

My heart dropped. A crushing wave of nausea overwhelmed me.

That young woman was someone I'd sponsored and taken in. I'd brought her into our home and cared for her like a daughter for nearly ten years.

"Anthony, you make me sick."

For the first time, we looked at each other like strangers. Anthony moved out that night, and Sienna went with him.

…

I watched Anthony Rivera on stage and smiled. I'd told him I wouldn't make this easy.

Security was trying to control the situation. Clearview University's graduation ceremony always drew attention, but now every reporter's camera and student's phone pointed at Anthony and me.

He dragged me to the faculty lounge.

"Brielle."

The panic on his face lasted only a moment. Now he was the revered Dr. Rivera again, cold and composed. "You know what today is. What are you thinking?"

Of course I knew. The graduation ceremony coincided with the university's centennial celebration. Alumni who'd made names for themselves in business and politics had returned to attend.

More importantly, there was one key figure whose opinion would determine whether Anthony became vice president of the university.

That was Dr. Lance Zuber, a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. And my connection with the Zuber family started with a single bouquet of roses.

It happened one Valentine's Day years ago. Dr. Zuber had been absorbed in his research and forgotten about his wife waiting at home.

People always said the elderly became like children again. The couple had an argument, and Mrs. Zuber left the house. They ended up bickering in front of my flower stand over a bouquet of roses.

I gave Mrs. Zuber the last of the roses on my cart and told a white lie. "Your husband specially asked me to save these for you."

Dr. Zuber made up with his wife, and we became friends after that. Mrs. Zuber loved flowers, so Dr. Zuber came to my stand every week to buy a bouquet for her.

Then one ordinary evening, a drunk man showed up and started smashing my flower stand for no reason. The person who caught the drunk's fist before it landed on me was Anthony.

He had no talent for fighting. After a few exchanges, his face was already bruised. But with sheer reckless courage, he drove the drunk away.

He offered to stay and help me clean up the mess. Later, he met Dr. Zuber, who came by at his usual time to buy flowers.

Beside my destroyed flower stand, Anthony and Dr. Zuber talked about academics and philosophy. By the time they'd nearly become friends despite their age difference, Dr. Zuber discovered Anthony was a graduate student at his university.

So Dr. Zuber broke his tradition of not taking students and took Anthony under his wing.

After that, the task of buying flowers for Mrs. Zuber fell to Anthony. What had been once a week became two or three times a week. Eventually, it was daily.

He often bought roses and violets. Violets were my favorite flower.

The day he graduated and Dr. Zuber offered him a faculty position, Anthony showed up with a bouquet.

"What, are you trying to compete with me now?" I looked at the vibrant violets in his arms.

Then, Anthony knelt on one knee and proposed. Everything fell into place naturally.

After we married, I worked from home writing novels to support myself. That was when Anthony learned I'd also studied literature. Selling flowers was just a side business. After all, the writing industry was brutally competitive.

The flowers remained, but the person had changed. All that was left was bitter regret.

At least in this life, I'd only encountered one heartbreak, only one scumbag named Anthony Rivera. It wasn't too late to start over.

"Brielle, I'm giving you a chance. Go out there and explain."

Anger clouded Anthony's face. I found it almost funny. In this marriage stained by infidelity, I was the one who should be furious.

But I hadn't collapsed in grief. I hadn't wallowed in self-pity. I'd chosen to fight back instead of suffering in silence. And somehow, that made Anthony and Sienna the victims?

"What do you want me to say?

"That I was betrayed by the girl I sponsored and raised? That my husband slept with his student, his adoptive daughter in name?"

I looked up at him. Time had been kind to Anthony. 20 years had barely left a mark on his face.

"Brielle, drop it before things get worse." Anthony frowned.

There it was again. That same phrase.

What exactly did I have to show for any of this? My husband treated me with cold contempt, and the girl I'd raised as my own daughter had crawled into bed with him. All I'd gotten was a front-row seat to their cruelty and betrayal.

"Anthony, you have no right to tell me anything."

I laughed until tears came. The anger lodged in my chest finally burst free. I grabbed at Anthony's ceremonial robe, revealing the familiar shirt underneath.

That was the shirt Sienna had mentioned buying for her boyfriend. So they'd been together that long.

"Anthony, I won't let you get away with this! And Sienna, I'm not the type to swallow my grievances quietly."

My voice rose to a hysterical shout.

"I'll destroy your reputation! As for Sienna, I pulled her out of hell, so I can drag her right back down. I'll make sure her parents and everyone else know what an ungrateful traitor she is, that she slept with her adoptive father!"

Something flickered in Anthony's eyes. He grabbed my wrist hard.

"What did you do?"

His grip tightened until I thought my bones would break. I laughed wildly.

"What else could I do? I just want her dead!"

An even louder commotion erupted outside. Anthony bolted from the room in panic.

On the ceremony stage, a middle-aged woman shrieked curses.

"Filthy whore!"

"Homewrecking slut!"

Beneath her, Sienna was being slapped over and over again.

Sienna's mother, Jenny Rowland, was too fierce. The security guards froze, unsure what to do.

Sienna's face was covered in red handprints. Her graduation gown had been torn, revealing the outfit from the photo she'd sent Anthony just days ago.

"What are you all standing around for? Pull them apart!"

The guards finally moved to intervene. Jenny didn't resist much and let go readily. When our eyes met, I nodded with satisfaction.

That was enough. The beating wasn't severe. Even if they pressed charges, it wouldn't qualify as a minor injury.

But in a setting like this, Sienna's reputation as a homewrecker would follow her for life. The bright future she should have had was gone.

The knot of anger in my chest loosened slightly. Anthony pulled Sienna into his arms and looked at me with ice in his eyes. "Brielle, you've gone too far."

I laughed coldly. "I've gone too far? She can be a mistress but can't handle getting slapped around?"

He turned to leave. I called out, "Anthony, if you carry her out of here now, you'll never clear your name."

He stopped but didn't turn around. "Brielle, isn't this what you wanted? You wanted proof I cheated, proof that Sienna and I are in love?

"Well, you got your wish."

After Anthony left, the watching students began filing out in an orderly fashion. The looks they gave me carried sympathy, confusion, and resentment.

This whole spectacle had accomplished nothing except letting me vent at Sienna. All it proved was that Anthony truly cared about her, while I'd lost my husband and my marriage had failed.

During the scuffle, Jenny hadn't come out completely unscathed. Her face bore injuries too. She hunched her shoulders, wearing an ingratiating smile.

"Mrs. Rivera, I did what you asked. About sponsoring my son's schooling..."

"Don't worry. I keep my promises," I said.

Jenny's younger son had just started high school this year. Sienna wasn't Jenny's biological daughter. She was the product of her father's affair with a widow in the village. That was why Jenny had never liked Sienna and had made her life miserable growing up.

I met Sienna when she was only ten years old. The Wrights were planning to send the young girl to work in a factory to support the family. When I visited the school to offer sponsorships, she'd knelt in front of me.

Her eyes had been determined. She desperately wanted an education, and wanted to make something of herself. I'd seen my own reflection in her.

If someone had been willing to help me back then, perhaps my path wouldn't have been so difficult. Because I'd thought of myself, I'd wanted to shelter Sienna, to give her a bright and brilliant life.

I'd sponsored her education. When I learned about her background, especially that she was sleeping in a pigsty, I'd immediately given Jenny a sum of money and brought Sienna home to care for her.

For more than ten years, we weren't mother and daughter, but we'd been as close as one. I could have accepted Anthony cheating with anyone else. But not Sienna, not the girl I'd raised as my own daughter crawling into my husband's bed.

Especially after that night when I'd discovered their inappropriate chat logs. She'd come before me wearing a sexy nightgown, flaunting herself without shame.

"Brielle, you may have raised me all these years, but the money all came from Tony's salary!"

Her contemptuous gaze had swept over me. "Looking at you like this, I really feel sorry for Tony. He deserves so much better than you."

I'd slapped her across the face. She'd run crying to Anthony to tattle.

Afterward, I'd stared at my reddened palm. Beyond the pain, I'd felt a dark satisfaction rising within me. As long as they suffered, I could feel better.

I'd pulled her out of the abyss and lifted her from hell. So I would be the one to send her back.

It was only fair.

Anthony stayed at the hospital with Sienna for three days and nights. A few days later, I received a tearful call from Jenny's son, Ben Wright.

"Ms. York, you're the only one I can turn to. Please, you have to save my mom!"

Through his broken sobs, I pieced together what had happened. With Anthony pulling strings, Sienna had filed a police report, and the injury assessment came back as second-degree minor assault. That was enough to get Jenny detained and fined.

Jenny had been taken away that morning, and before Anthony's people left, they'd said that if Jenny named her accomplice, she might avoid consequences.

Ben cried as he spoke. "Ms. York, my mom told me to tell you she won't say anything."

I reassured him and promised his mother would be fine. Anthony was just making an example of Jenny. His real target was me.

Sure enough, his call came through shortly after.

"I've already discussed it with the university. This afternoon, you'll attend a press conference and clear everything up. If you need a psychiatric evaluation, I can arrange that too."

It seemed the university had decided to protect Anthony. I laughed softly. "And if I don't cooperate?"

Anger simmered in his voice. "Brielle, don't push me. I don't want things between us to get uglier than they already are."

Was this still considered peaceful? I laughed until tears came. But in the end, I agreed to attend the press conference.

On my way there, I scrolled through news alerts about today's event.

"Hidden Truth Behind Clearview Professor's Affair: Jealous Wife Fabricating Stories?"

"Professor's Wife to Publicly Apologize and Beg Female Student for Forgiveness?"

"Adoptive Daughter or Punching Bag? Allegations Surface of Professor's Wife Abusing Foster Child."

When I arrived at the press conference venue, it was packed with reporters. The moment they saw me, they swarmed.

The flash of cameras made it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open.

"Mrs. Rivera, did you really abuse your sponsored student?"

"Mrs. Rivera, sources say you have severe mental health issues. Is that why you're hostile toward any woman near Dr. Rivera?"

"Mrs. Rivera, aside from issuing a clarification, Dr. Rivera says you'll also be kneeling to apologize to the student. Is that true?"

I smiled. "Kneeling to apologize? Then you'd better get your cameras ready. I might move too fast for you to catch it."

I pushed through the crowd toward the backstage lounge, where Anthony was feeding Sienna water. Sienna's face was pale, and when she saw me, she instinctively shrank into Anthony's arms.

"Mrs. Rivera."

Her voice was timid. "Dr. Rivera was just giving me water because I was thirsty. Please don't read into it. There's nothing between us."

She added a few weak coughs for effect.

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't mind me. Keep going. Since you're already in his arms, why not go mouth-to-mouth? It's more hygienic that way!"

Sienna's eyes reddened. "Mrs. Rivera, I'm grateful you sponsored me, but I won't let you slander me. Dr. Rivera and I have always maintained proper boundaries. We're not what you think."

"Brielle, don't forget why you're here today." Anthony set down the water glass.

The three of us took our seats at the press conference. Sienna was the first to take the microphone. She played the role of an innocent student wrongly victimized to perfection.

"Mrs. Rivera, I remember everything you've done for me over the years. But you've slandered both Dr. Rivera and me. If you don't publicly apologize and beg for my forgiveness today, I'll pursue legal action."

I grabbed the glass from the table and threw the contents into Sienna's face, following it with a hard slap. She screamed and clutched her face. Her carefully crafted innocent persona crumbled in an instant.