Chapter 3

3

New Year's Eve was approaching, and Mrs. Pierce demanded I come back to help with the hosting.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Serena. She was flaunting her pregnancy bump, ordering the maids around like she owned the place.

Adrian looked relieved to see me, though he also looked incredibly awkward.

After dinner, Serena suddenly came screaming down the stairs. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were disheveled, and she was clutching a tiny hidden camera.

"Adrian! Mom! Look at this! Tanya hid a camera in my bedroom! She's been filming me!" Serena shrieked, her body shaking.

Suddenly, Serena's phone chimed. She opened a link and showed the screen. It was a website filled with compromising photos of her from a voyeuristic angle.

The captions were disgusting. The photos were being sold for five dollars a piece.

"She's not just filming me; she's selling my dignity online for five dollars!" Serena sobbed until she could barely breathe.

Mrs. Pierce was shaking with rage. "You monster! How did our family end up with a woman as shameless and evil as you?"

"It wasn't me! I haven't even been in this house!" I cried out.

"Only a few people can even get into that bedroom," Adrian roared, cutting me off. "If it wasn't you, then who? Me? My mother? You think she did this to herself?"

"How can you be so disgusting? If you needed money, why didn't you just ask me?"

Mrs. Pierce suddenly grabbed her cane and swung it at me with all her might. "I'll beat the evil out of you! You're dragging our family name through the mud!"

Serena grabbed my arms, pretending to cry, but she was actually pinning me so I couldn't dodge the blows. I was beaten until blood ran down my face.

Adrian just stood there, holding Serena and whispering to her to stay calm so she wouldn't hurt the baby.

Through the blood and tears, my memories came rushing back.

I remembered Serena wearing my maternity clothes, kneeling and begging me to stay. I remembered Adrian kneeling beside her, asking me to be "kind."

I looked at their faces and then at my own trapped hands. I started to laugh.

"Adrian, let's get a divorce."

The room went silent. Adrian finally looked at me and realized my face was covered in blood. A flash of panic and guilt crossed his eyes.

He let go of Serena to move toward me, but she suddenly screamed in pain. "Adrian, my hand! I think it's broken!"

He immediately turned back to check her hand. It was just a faint red mark from where she had been holding me. He started blowing on it tenderly.

I gave a bitter laugh and stumbled into the study. I pulled the divorce papers I had already prepared out of the desk.

"Adrian, I hope you're happy now."