Thanks to the class monitor’s organization, I decided to attend our high school reunion. It had been years since I saw many of these familiar faces, and just as I was reminiscing and catching up with old friends, the atmosphere shattered.

The doors burst open, and stormed Inez Hoover—rumored to be engaged to a wealthy heir—followed by a small entourage. Without a word of warning, she marched up to me and slapped me across the face in front of everyone.

"Lindsay, you bitch! How dare you seduce my fiancé?!"

Stunned, I instinctively took a step back, my hand flying to my cheek. “Are you insane? I don’t even know who your fiancé is.”

“You dare do it but won’t admit it? Fine! I’ll make sure you die knowing! My fiancé is Patrick Patton!” she snarled.

I blinked in disbelief. Patrick?

The same man who grovelled before me, clinging to his connection with my mother’s family for favors? The one who followed me around like a puppy?

That man... was her fiancé?

How ironic.

That slap you threw, Inez? You didn’t just ruin your fantasy of marrying rich. You just dragged the whole "wealthy family" down with you.

——

“You finally realize your guilt, don’t you?” she sneered as I stood there, silent. “Too late for regrets!”

She turned to her lackeys. “Teach this vixen a lesson. I’ll take full responsibility. Let her see what happens when she dares steal someone else’s man!”

The group lunged forward. One yanked my hair, dragging me to the ground. A kick landed hard on my stomach, followed by punches. I curled into myself, shielding my head and torso, every blow leaving me breathless.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Only then did the others in the room come to their senses. The class monitor rushed over, trying to separate us.

“Inez, this must be a misunderstanding,” he pleaded. “We’re all classmates here. Let’s talk it out. There’s no need for violence.”

“Yeah, it’s a reunion, not a brawl. What’s so serious that it has to come to this?” others added, stepping in to deescalate.

Back in high school, I had good relationships with nearly everyone. Inez, on the other hand, always looked down on the rest of us, thinking her beauty made her untouchable. So now, when things turned ugly, the room naturally leaned in my favor.

“Huh? You’re actually defending this homewrecker?”

Jealousy flickered in Inez’s eyes. She let out a bitter laugh before tossing a stack of photos onto the table.

“Don’t be fooled just because we’re classmates. Some people specialize in playing innocent while scheming behind everyone’s backs. You think I came here without proof? Look at these. This is the vixen you’re all protecting—cozying up to my fiancé!”

In the photos, Patrick was holding an umbrella for me, opening the car door with a smile, even picking out food for me during dinner. From the angles, someone had clearly been following and photographing us secretly.

I remembered that night. I had tossed the food he offered straight into the trash—but of course, that moment wasn’t included.

Looking at those photos, I could feel the doubt spreading in the room. Even I would question my own intentions if I were seeing these for the first time.

“Still going to make excuses for her?”

Inez’s voice dripped with venom as she scanned the crowd, watching the shift in their expressions.

My classmates exchanged uneasy glances—some wanted to speak up, but one look from Inez’s piercing, furious gaze made them shrink back in silence.

Then, she turned her fire on me.

Her eyes blazed with hatred as she stepped closer.

“Lindsay, you really are something else,” she spat. “Back in high school, you were already flirting with every guy in sight. And now? You're still seducing my fiancé.”

She scoffed, voice rising with rage.

“He was supposed to accompany me to this reunion, but suddenly said he had something ‘urgent’ to handle. I never imagined that ‘urgent’ thing was sending you, you shameless vixen.”

“Inez,” I said through clenched teeth, suppressing the pain searing through my body, “you’ve misunderstood. There’s nothing going on between me and Patrick.”

I lifted my head and met her gaze.

“If you don’t believe me, then call him. Ask him yourself.”

Earlier today, I had planned to keep a low profile and ride with Uncle Ken. But Patrick insisted on driving me—especially after learning I was attending a reunion. “Maybe my girlfriend’s your classmate,” he said with a smirk.

I didn’t expect his words to be so accurate.

Because yes—his girlfriend is my high school classmate.

Worse… she’s my old nemesis.

Inez was the reigning school beauty back then. But when I transferred in during our second year, I unwittingly dethroned her. From the moment I arrived, she had it out for me. A senior she’d been pining for confessed to me in public—and though I turned him down kindly, that moment sealed her hatred.

She even tried to rally others to bully me, though none of her schemes succeeded.

“Call him?” Inez snorted in contempt. “What, so your lover can come running to save you? Dream on, slut. You think he’d turn against me, his fiancée, for someone like you? I’ll call him—but only after I’m done with you!”

“Inez, you should really call him now and clear this up,” the class monitor said urgently. “Assaulting someone is a crime.”

But Inez’s lackeys shoved him aside.

“Crime?” one of them sneered. “Our boss is the law around here. Do you nobodies even know who her fiancé is?”

“You’ll wet your pants when you hear it,” another chimed in with a smirk.

“She’s marrying into the Patton Family of Chicago next month. You dare mess with the future young madam of the Patton household? Do you even want to live in Chicago?”

The moment they mentioned the Patton Family, fear swept across the room. My classmates backed away, their faces pale, avoiding my eyes.

Even the class monitor froze, his stance crumbling under pressure. One of the thugs casually shoved him aside, and no one dared stop it.

In Chicago, the Patton Family was practically untouchable—for ordinary people, at least. Most only knew Inez was about to marry into wealth, but not that she was set to marry into the Patton family itself. To them, she had hit the ultimate jackpot.

Some of my classmates even looked tempted to cozy up to her.

But what they didn’t know—what none of them knew—was this:

The Patton Family only rose to power because of my family.

If it weren’t for our support, they’d still be buried in a forgotten corner of our hometown, living in obscurity.

I opened my mouth to explain, but they didn’t give me the chance. The moment they surrounded me, fists started flying. They beat me mercilessly, all to please Inez.

I'd never experienced such violence before. Each blow left me breathless, the pain swallowing my voice until I couldn’t even cry out.

“Pick her up,” Inez sneered as I collapsed to the ground, barely conscious.

They forced me upright, gripping my arms tightly while Inez sauntered toward me, holding a chair. Her expression was twisted with hatred.

“Lindsay, you slut,” she hissed. “Didn’t you beg my fiancé to drive you here? Since you don’t want to walk on your own, you won’t need those legs anymore.”

With that, she raised the chair high.

The people holding me tightened their grip, ensuring I couldn’t move. I stared at the chair in horror.

“Inez, think this through,” I said, terrified. “If that chair hits me, the consequences won’t just fall on you.”

“Consequences?” she laughed bitterly. “Do you think seducing my fiancé will turn you into some kind of princess? Wake up!”

The chair came crashing down.

I screamed. Agonizing pain exploded through my legs. I felt the snap before I heard it — a sickening crunch that echoed louder than my own cries.

“You’re finished, Inez,” I rasped, barely able to breathe. “You’ll never marry into the Patton Family now. Not after this. And they’ll go down with you.”

Even if I wanted to forgive them, my family wouldn’t. I was their pride, their heart. And now, I can barely move.

One thought kept pounding in my head: They’re all done for.

“You still dare to threaten me?” Inez sneered. “Do you even know what the Patton Family is in Chicago? Let me spell it out — even if I kill you today, someone will take the fall for me. Can you say the same?”

“You don’t know what my family stands for,” I gritted out.

“Your family?” She laughed cruelly. “You’re nothing but a pretty face who used that face to seduce my brother in high school, and now my fiancé? I’ll destroy that face and see who you can seduce next.”

She grabbed a steak knife from a nearby table.

My heart dropped.

“No...” I whispered, breathing quickening.

Inez walked closer, slowly, maliciously dragging the cold blade across my cheek.

“A face like this…” she murmured, “What a shame it would be to scar it forever.”

The blade grazed my skin. I shivered from the icy touch.

Then, she paused. “But I’ll give you a choice, since we were once classmates,” she said mockingly.

“Kneel in front of everyone. Beg for mercy. Admit you’re nothing but a man-stealing vixen hiding behind a pure act. Do that, and I’ll let you go.”

She looked down at me, smiling wickedly.

“You’re dreaming,” I spat through the pain, hoarse but unyielding.

I am Lindsay Hines. I would never kneel — not to her, not to anyone. Especially when I’d done nothing wrong.

Inez’s expression turned icy.

“You really are stubborn. Let’s see how long you can keep that up.”

“Inez… isn’t this enough already?” the class monitor asked weakly, face pale with fear.