Jayden sensed something was off and made an excuse to head to the study for a meeting, leaving just me and Tricia alone in the living room.

The moment he was out of sight, Tricia's expression turned sour. "Simone, what the hell was that in front of Jayden just now? Did you not want him to help me?"

I fought hard to keep the hatred out of my voice and replied with a light smile, "Of course not. I just don't want you to lose a man who clearly loves you.

"After all, it might be an act of affection. Your husband beating you like that must be all that deep, unspoken love he just doesn't know how to show!"

"You—"

She choked on her words, glared at me, then threw out a sharp, "I'm going to shower." Then she stormed off.

I watched her back with a cold smirk, every detail from my past life flashing through my mind.

Tricia was my college classmate. She was always surrounded by admirers because of her looks. In the end, she chose Luke Zimmer as her husband purely for money. But just months after they got married, Luke went bankrupt after an accident.

They went from being lovey-dovey to constant fighting. Her social media turned into a place for public whining and insults. Back then, we weren't even that close until I married Jayden.

She suddenly became very interested in his wealthy background and started getting chummy with me, eventually calling herself my best friend.

When she got hit by Luke, she showed up at my place crying in the middle of the night. I pitied her and couldn't bring myself to turn her away, so I let her crash at my place for a while.

And then? She moved in and immediately started parading around Jayden in low-cut tops and spaghetti straps, constantly playing the victim in front of him. She even "accidentally" walked into his study late at night, pretending she got the rooms mixed up.

Jayden caught on quickly and left town on a "business trip", staying away for half a month. But right after he returned, Tricia claimed she was pregnant.

Before I could even ask her what was going on, Luke stormed in, broke Jayden's leg, and dragged my whole family to court.

In the courtroom, Tricia cried her eyes out, accusing Jayden of being a predator who assaulted her while she was staying at our house. She also claimed I turned a blind eye and even helped him do it.

Jayden and I denied everything, but then she pulled out an amniocentesis report proving the baby she was carrying was Jayden's.

In front of the press cameras, she sobbed like the world's biggest victim as she said, "I always treated Simone as my best friend, but I never imagined she'd be the one to throw me into hell. Her husband's a monster!"

Because of that one sentence, the internet tore us apart. Once the police got involved, we were arrested, sentenced, and ordered to pay Tricia and her husband ten million dollars for emotional damages.

Jayden and I died miserably in prison.

Meanwhile, Tricia aborted the baby, pocketed the ten million, and lived happily ever after with Luke.

Thinking about all this made my blood boil.

This time, I was determined to expose her for who she really was.

The next morning, after secretly installing surveillance cameras all around the house, I waited until Jayden left for work, then found an excuse to leave as well. I headed to a nearby café, opened the app on my phone, and started monitoring everything Tricia was doing.

I watched her walk straight into my bedroom, wearing one of my expensive silk nightgowns and spraying on my perfume. She gave a cold snort and muttered to herself, "How could a rich man like that be into someone as boring as Simone?

"She's all dried up like a wrinkled potato. How could she even begin to compete with my body?"

As she spoke, she pulled out my limited-edition Hermès handbag and tried it on in front of the mirror, practically glowing with vanity.

Just then, Luke called.

"What now?" she snapped, clearly annoyed.

"So? Any progress? Did Jayden finally pounce on you last night or what?"

Luke's voice came through the speaker, full of impatience.

"Pounce on me? He's like a damn block of wood. I practically threw myself at him, and he didn't even flinch. For all I know, he's gay!"

That made Luke even more anxious. "Useless! You've never had trouble getting men before. Why are you flopping now when I actually need you to deliver?"

"Ugh, screw you!" Tricia said.

"You've got some nerve blaming me. If you hadn't racked up all that debt and nearly gotten hacked to death by loan sharks, would I even be doing this crap, seducing another man? And besides, it's not like I can force him to sleep with me!"

"Idiot! You don't need to sleep with him to get pregnant!"

Hearing that, Tricia thought of something, and her eyes lit up with a spark of excitement.

"You're right. With how advanced things are nowadays, all I need is to get my hands on one of Jayden's used rubbers. Then getting pregnant with his kid will be a piece of cake!"

After that, she and Luke kept whispering back and forth. The audio from the surveillance wasn't perfect, so I couldn't make out the rest, but I had a pretty good idea what they were plotting.

That night, when I returned home and walked through the door, I saw Jayden stumbling out of our bedroom, looking panicked, with a disheveled Tricia following behind him, half-dressed.

The second he saw me, his face changed, and he rushed over to grab me.

"Honey, it's not what it looks like! Tricia said her clothes tore and asked me to help. Just as I was about to refuse, she suddenly started taking her clothes off—"

"How could I ever misunderstand you, dear?" I cut him off quickly, not wanting him to say anything he shouldn't.

Then I walked up and linked my arm through his with a smile. I pretended nothing was wrong and turned to look at Tricia. "Tricia, are you okay?"

"I... I'll just go back to the guest room," she mumbled, covering her mouth and hurrying off.

She did the exact same thing in the previous life. Back then, the whole "shocked and humiliated" act was part of her setup. She had secretly turned on her phone beforehand and recorded the whole scene, faking evidence that Jayden had assaulted her.

That so-called "proof" ended up going viral. The netizens had called it "Hammer of Thor", smashing our reputation completely.

But this time, I'd like to see what kind of game she thought she could play with my surveillance cameras rolling.

Jayden was about to explain what had just happened, but I threw my arms around him and said affectionately, "Dear, I missed you so much. Don't worry about Tricia. Go take a shower, okay?"

He caught my hint, smiled, and asked me to wait for him before heading straight into the bathroom.

While he showered, I cracked the bedroom door open, just a sliver, but enough for Tricia to hear everything. Enough for her to know exactly what we were doing.

Jayden came out not long after, and the night unfolded just as expected. It wasn't until well past midnight that things finally quieted down.

He gave me a satisfied kiss and casually tossed the used rubber into the trash can.

I looked up toward the door. I caught a shadow slipping past the crack. My lips curled into a cold smile.

Tricia had been eavesdropping outside, just as I thought.

Right then, Jayden got a call from his office. There was an emergency in one of the deals, and he had to rush back. I offered to walk him downstairs.

After he drove off, I pulled out my phone and checked the home surveillance app. There Tricia was, rummaging through the bedroom trash.

Disgusting.

The next morning, she texted me to say she'd made up with Luke and was moving out. Exactly as I expected. I didn't respond and was just waiting for her next move.

Sure enough, less than two weeks later, we received a court summons, like in my previous life.

The police showed up at our door, looking down their noses at us. "Jayden Lowe, Simone Scott, you are under suspicion for unlawful detention and assault. You'll need to come with us to the station immediately!"

Just like before, they didn't let us explain a thing. No one cared what we had to say. They dragged us straight to the police station.

Outside, the building was swarmed with media and livestreamers. Tricia and Luke stood in the middle of it all, surrounded by friends and relatives. The moment Tricia saw me escorted out of the car, a gleam of triumph lit up her eyes, though she quickly switched to fake tears and sobs.

"Simone, you monster! You lured me into your home and let him assault me just to please him! And you helped him lock me up!"

Luke's acting was on point, too. "Simone, Tricia treated you as her best friend! How could you do something so disgusting and heartless? I swear, I'll fight you to the end!"

A few officers quickly stepped in to keep him from charging forward.

The reporters and livestreamers around us were full of righteous outrage.

"You animal! How could you do something like this?"

"Shameless! She even set up her own friend!"

"Trash couple. That poor woman deserves so much better!"

Jayden was livid, and his face was red with rage, just like what happened in the past life.

"You all must be out of your minds! I never touched her! She kept throwing herself at me, and I didn't even want to lay a finger on her. That plastic face of hers made me feel like puking!"

Tricia's face twisted for a second before she stepped forward. "Jayden, of course, you won't admit it. But thankfully, fate was on my side and left me with the most crucial piece of evidence. I'm pregnant!

"With an amniocentesis DNA test, we'll know exactly who the father is!"

Her words set off another wave of excitement. People started praising her bravery and intelligence, saying she was smart to use such a method to fight for herself.

The police agreed. They immediately arranged for a medical team to run the test. In less than two hours, the results were back.

Luke and Tricia could barely contain their smug smiles.

The officer in charge opened the file and froze on the spot. "The DNA test results show that the father of the baby is…"

His pupils widened, and his voice cracked. "Harry Zimmer?"