2: 2

Stanley froze where he stood, all the color draining from his face.

Carmen's eyes went wide, and she whipped around to stare at me, disbelief written all over her.

"Mona, what's gotten into you today? You've always hated Stan Maddox, haven't you?"

"You said he wore that stone face all day long, never cracked a smile once, that being around him was so suffocating you could hardly breathe."

"You told me yourself you liked sweet young guys like Stanley. Easygoing, obedient, gentle and attentive, always checking in on you, always ready to make you laugh."

"So what now? A boy hands you his whole heart, and suddenly you don't know him? Even if you're scared of the Maddox family, that's no reason to trample on someone who truly loves you!"

The floating prompts flashed across my vision again.

【She's provoking the ex-husband on purpose. He's downstairs right now, probably about to crush the steering wheel in his hands.】

【Our heroine's such a cheapskate she counts every last nickel, won't even buy a shopping bag at the store, so there's no way she'd bankroll some pretty boy. It's all lies her best friend is spreading.】

【This woman is truly vicious. She wants to make the affair charge stick so the ex-husband finishes the heroine off for good.】

Listening to it made my blood boil. I was not taking the fall for this. If Stan actually overheard any of it, that ten million was gone for good, never mind my own neck.

I pointed at Carmen, so furious I laughed.

"Carmen, quit spewing garbage! Me, spend money I clawed together penny by penny to keep a man? Let me tell you, even if he paid me to take him, I'd say he wasn't worth the rice he'd eat in my house!"

Then I threw up my hand and slapped Carmen across the face with everything I had.

The crack of it rang through the room. Carmen stumbled back two steps, half her face flushing red in an instant.

Stanley cried out, rushed over to catch her, and pulled her behind him.

"Ms. Pruitt, whatever you're angry about, take it out on me. Don't hit Carmen."

He looked at me, his eyes full of tenderness and heartbreak.

"She's not even in good health, and she pulled all-nighters just to comfort you. How can you be so ungrateful?"

He kept looking at me, all tenderness and hurt, his voice cracking.

"I know you're in a bad place, right after your divorce. But Carmen only wants you to be happy someday. I don't care that you were married before, I don't care what anyone says. I just want to take care of you. Why won't you give me a chance?"

Carmen hid behind Stanley, covering her face, tears sliding down her cheeks, her voice thick with hurt.

"Mona, I'm doing this for your own good. You told me yourself, if Stan Maddox weren't so rich, if there wasn't anything to gain from him, you never would've married a possessive, obsessive control freak like that."

She sniffled, then leaned her head out again, her tone growing surer.

"You even said he couldn't hold a candle to Stanley, that deep down the one you loved was a clean, easygoing boy like Stanley. That you never loved Stan Maddox, not once, that the whole thing was just an act to squeeze money out of him."

The words turned my blood to ice. If Stan believed a single one of them, I'd be sunk to the bottom of the river before the day was out.

3: 3

Carmen watched me without a word, a flicker of triumph in her eyes. The wronged look vanished in an instant, replaced by a coaxing, patient smile.

"There now, Mona. That slap just now, I'll chalk it up to you losing your temper. I won't hold it against you. Look how good Stanley is to you. Sweet-tempered, thoughtful, warming up a basin of hot water just so you could soak your feet on a freezing day like this. A good man like that, you won't find anywhere else."

As she spoke she tugged at Stanley's sleeve and shot him a look.

Stanley caught it at once. Slowly he loosened his arm from around Carmen and dug a small red velvet box out of his pocket.

He cradled the box in both hands, dropped to one knee on the still-damp floor, and eased it open bit by bit. Inside sat a tiny diamond ring.

"Mona, I know a proposal right now is rushed, but I really can't wait any longer! I don't care what anyone calls me. I just want the right to stand at your side!"

"Even if you had nothing left, I'd hand over every bit of pocket money I've saved from my part-time jobs! From now on your money is our money, and I'll manage it for you. I'll never let you suffer even a little again. Please, marry me!"

The second the words left his mouth, the floating comments overhead scrolled by in a frenzy.

【Damn! Do NOT say yes—he bought that ring with your bestie's money, just to lock you down. The moment you nod, Stan comes charging up with a knife and hacks you alive!】

【Your ex is already on his way up the stairs. That thing is a death sentence. Run, girl, run.】

【These two work so well together, one playing nice, one playing hard, all to corner her into a dead end.】

I stared at the ring, and instead of any rush of feeling, all I got was a pang of pure heartache over money.

The diamond was so small you could barely see it, and he actually thought this thing would reel in my ten million in savings. Wishful thinking, plain and simple.

Seeing me stay quiet, Stanley assumed I was turning up my nose at it.

"Mona, I know I've got no money right now. This ring really is too small. It's not fair to you. But trust me, I'll work myself to the bone and I'll buy you a huge diamond someday, I swear!"

I looked coldly at Stanley kneeling on the floor, then at Carmen standing beside him, her face full of expectation.

I put out two fingers and pinched up the ring with open distaste, eyeing the pathetic little stone on it, smaller than the chip diamonds I used for my nails, and inwardly rolled my eyes.

"Save it..." I muttered, already refusing him, my hand darting out to grab his arm, meaning to haul him up off the floor at once and shove this piece of junk back into his hand so I'd be clear of the whole thing.

But the words of refusal never made it out.

"Bang——!"

The dorm door was kicked open from outside, the panel slamming into the wall with a deafening crash.

I flinched all over and turned to look.

Stan stood in the doorway, the cold of the outside clinging to him, his eyes bloodshot, like a beast pushed to the brink of fury.

And right then, Stanley was on one knee before me, gazing up at me with all his tenderness.

And I had that engagement ring pinched in one hand, while the other gripped Stanley's arm.

To his blood-red eyes, the whole picture looked exactly like me taking the ring in delight, tenderly helping up the man whose proposal I'd just accepted.

4: 4

A shudder ripped through me. I turned, and there was Stan in a black overcoat, standing in the doorway with no expression at all.

The cold of the street still clung to him. His eyes were dark and unreadable, not a flicker of feeling in them, but the pressure of him flooded the room in an instant.

The noise sent Stanley collapsing straight to the floor, the ring box tumbling out of his hand into the puddle.

Then he froze, and a second later scrambled up, arms flung wide, trembling as he planted himself in front of me.

"Mr. Maddox! Whatever you want to do, do it to me. Just don't hurt her!" His voice shook. "This was all my idea!"

Stanley's eyes went red-rimmed.

"She's been so cold and neglected under your roof. She just needed someone to love her! Yes, she used your money to buy me expensive gifts, but I never cared about the money. If it comes to it, I'll go sell my own blood to pay back every cent she spent on me. Please, just let us be together!"

My eyes nearly popped out of my head.

No—are you insane? When did I ever spend money on you? I never even bought you a fifty-cent bag of spicy chips!

The prompts floating in the air exploded at once: 【AHHH the fake-nice act is thick! He's doing it on purpose to set off the ex-husband! Heroine's in danger!!】

Stan didn't say a word. He came at me, seized my wrist, and yanked me hard toward him.

"Hey! Stan, are you out of your mind? Let go of me! I've already signed the divorce papers!"

Tears sprang up from the pain. I fought him, wrenching at my arm with everything I had, but he was too strong, his grip crushing down to the bone.

Stanley didn't help. He dropped back to his knees on purpose, buried his head in his arms, and sobbed.

"Don't worry about me! Just apologize to Mr. Maddox, please. As long as you're safe, I'd rather step aside…"

That was when Carmen rushed forward, threw her arms around Stan's arm, and cried out in a rush.

"Mr. Maddox, don't hurt Mona! She's carrying Stanley's baby now. The baby's innocent! For the sake of the child, please, let the three of them go and start their own family!"

My mind went blank. I couldn't move.

"What? Carmen, what garbage are you talking about? When was I ever pregnant? I've never even touched his hand."

Stanley lifted his head, his face set with resolve as he looked at me.

"Mona, don't hide it anymore. Even if Mr. Maddox beats me to death today, I'll protect you and our child!"

Carmen's eyes reddened again. She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her bag, snapped it open, and thrust it in front of Stan. My name was printed right there on it.

"Mona, have you forgotten? I went with you to the hospital yesterday for the ultrasound. This is the lab report. It says it plainly. You can be as scared of Mr. Maddox as you like, but you can't gamble with your own flesh and blood."

Stan's eyes locked onto the report. His chest heaved twice, hard.

Then he let go of my hand, only to clamp it around my throat and slam me back against the wardrobe door behind me.

"How could you not believe me? Your money…"

My throat closed up. I gaped, fighting for air, my face burning red.

"Fine, Ramona. You took a full ten million from me, then turned around and used my money to keep another man—and even got yourself pregnant."

"Money's what you love most, isn't it? Then I'll make sure you never get to spend another cent. Take your money to hell."

His teeth were clenched, his grip snapping tighter, and real suffocation flooded my head, the edges of my vision going black.

I clawed at his wrist, nails digging into his flesh, and with the last of my strength forced out a single sentence.

In that instant, every face in the room changed color.