When Alfred caught sight of me, I saw a flicker of guilt cross his face.

However, Janet let out a tiny sniffle, and Alfred was all concerned, turning to me to say, "You're up, so get a move on and fix up a room for Janet. She'll be staying with us for a bit."

Janet shot me a wary glance, her eyes red. "Helen, if this bothers you, I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning..."

Alfred's eyes snapped to me, his voice hard. "Helen, don't start with the jealousy. Janet's my childhood buddy. To me, she's like a sister. She's been pushed around by Maverick, and I can't just stand by and do nothing as her big brother!"

I stared back at his hostile look and could not help but laugh. "Funny, I don't remember saying anything."

That was when Alfred realized he might have jumped the gun, but he doubled down. "You didn't have to say anything. Your face said plenty."

So, that was what 'give a dog a bad name and hang him' was all about.

I turned on my heel and walked away without another word.

Janet asked, "Alfred, did Helen get mad? Maybe I should just go to a hotel."

Alfred's annoyance was immediate. "Helen! What's with the attitude?"

I did not even look back as I said, "I'm not feeling great tonight, so I can't help Ms. Stewart with her bed. There are plenty of maids around to cover for me anyway."

With that, I headed back to my room and locked the door behind me.

Half an hour later, the sound of a doorknob rattling broke the silence.

Alfred's voice followed, soft with regret. "Honey, I never meant to boss you around like you're one of the maids. I wasn't thinking, and I upset you. I'm sorry. I'm tired, so just unlock the door and let me in, okay?"

I stayed silent, feigning sleep, while my tears betrayed me, soaking the pillow.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the quiet from next door, and Alfred rushed to check it out.

Soon, the rhythmic creaking of a bed came from next door, then Janet's uncontrollable sobs clued me in on what was happening.

I grabbed my phone and slipped out to the balcony. There was just a fence separating the balconies of two rooms, so I climbed over easily.

Peeking through the curtains, I caught sight of two figures tangled up with each other.

A wave of nausea hit me.

Janet had always played the victim, claiming that Maverick bullied her, but she could not wait to hop into bed with someone else's husband.

They were all despicable, every last one.

I held back the urge to vomit, recorded a video, and snuck back to my room.

As I lay in bed, it hit me. I had been feeling nothing but disgust, no heartache at all. That must have been what it was like when the heart went numb.

The commotion next door lasted until the crack of dawn, and I did not sleep a wink.

Come morning, I went downstairs only to find Ruby in tears.

Janet looked like she was trying to soothe her, but she was actually pinching her arm.

I could not stand it. I stormed over, yanked Janet away, and scooped Ruby into my arms.

That's when Alfred came thundering down the stairs, yelling, "What's going on here?"

He hurried to Janet's side and helped her up.

Janet played the victim perfectly, batting her eyes at Alfred. "It's nothing, Alfred. Ruby was crying, and Helen probably just panicked, thinking I was picking on Ruby. She didn't mean to push me."

Alfred's face was like ice as he snapped, "Don't make excuses for her! She's just jealous because I brought you home last night. She wanted to lash out at you."

He turned to me, his eyes filled with disappointment. "Helen, I never knew you could be so cruel. You should be looking out for Janet, especially since her husband's been so awful to her!"

Janet, ever the actress, said, "Alfred, don't be so harsh. Helen just lost control, that's all. I get it, Helen's been holding a grudge against me. After all, Maverick left her to those men to save me…

"She was passed around and tormented, and then you took pity on her. Of course, she's going to be all messed up over it. You should try to understand."

However, Alfred just scoffed. "She got herself into that mess because she was too dumb to see through Maverick's lies! If she's got hate to spare, it should be for Maverick, not taking it out on you."

I felt a chill run through me, but my cheeks were on fire. I never imagined Alfred would ever trash-talk me out in the open like that.

He had the nerve to pin all my nightmares on me, as if I conjured them up myself.

Once upon a time, he would have thrown punches for even a whisper of that old scandal around me.

There he stood as dashing as ever, but in my eyes, he was nothing but a monster, a fearsome, revolting creature.

Alfred caught the slip of his tongue, and his eyes darted to mine, only to be met with a glare so icy it could freeze hell over.

He had never seen such a look from me before. He staggered back, stammering, "I... I didn't mean it like that."

Janet chimed in, "Yeah, Helen. Alfred didn't mean anything. He's always been there for you. You'd break his heart if you got it wrong again.

"Let's be real... If he and I wanted to be a thing, it would've happened ages ago. You weren't even in the picture."

I kept silent, just giving them the death stare.

Alfred was losing it, probably wondering if I was onto something.

He reached for my hand, but I sidestepped, cool as a cucumber. "I've got plans with Mom to talk about Ruby's birthday. I'm heading out."

Alfred tried to come after me, but Janet was quick.

"Alfred, Maverick said he's dropping by later. I'm freaked out. I can't face him. You'll stop him, won't you?"

Alfred's eyes lingered on me as I walked away.

After a beat, he promised, "Sure, don't worry. I won't let him get to you."

I could not help but snicker at the irony.

I had half-expected Alfred to come after me, feeling guilty, and I was already figuring out how to block him.

However, as usual, he stuck with Janet.

I was just about to head out when I spotted Maverick Lowe pulling up in his flashy sports car.

He caught sight of me and did a double-take, then asked, all worried, "Have you been crying? Helen, did Alfred give you a hard time?"

Alfred stepped outside when they heard us. He rushed over to me as soon as he heard I had been crying.

He saw the tears I had not wiped away, feeling sorry for me.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I didn't mean to say those things earlier, I never thought you deserved any of that..."

Maverick heard him and stormed over, grabbing Alfred by the collar, fuming.

"Alfred, you dare to look down on her? Did you forget what you promised me? You said you cared about Helen, that you'd never look down on her, and now, after such a short time, you dare to bring up that incident to shame her?"

Alfred shot back, ticked off, "Maverick, what gives you the right to grill me? If you hadn't ditched Helen for Janet, would she have gone through all this?"

The two guys did not waste a second before they started throwing punches.

Janet came running out and went pale when she saw the scene.

She probably never imagined that one day, her two loyal followers would come to blows over me.

However, I could not care less about their drama. I got in my car and headed for the old Hawkins family estate.

I was the daughter of the Hawkins family's nanny. My parents died in a terrible fire trying to save Alfred.

Ever since that day, the Hawkins family welcomed me as their adopted daughter. However, I knew the score.

Sabrina Garcia, Alferd's mom, was playing a long game. She wanted to look like the good guy, and she was banking on me to score a power-match for the Hawkins clan.

I almost pulled it off for her, but in a twist no one saw coming, I ended up marrying her son.

That was why Sabrina could not stand me, and by extension, my little girl, Ruby.

I used to bite my tongue for Alfred's sake, no matter how much Sabrina tried to rattle me.

However, when she saw what was on my phone, she went pale as a ghost. She was so shaken, she could not even get her words out straight.

I kept my composure and said, "Mrs. Hawkins, how about we make a deal?"

...

That night, a car was smashed by a big rig on the way home, tumbled off the overpass, and burst into flames.

Whoever was inside did not stand a chance.