Chapter 3

A few days later, Lydia was discharged from the hospital.

My parents shoved me into the car and dragged me straight to the Sterling Group headquarters.

The normally spacious lobby was packed wall-to-wall with employees.

My parents had summoned the entire company to publicly clear Lydia's name.

On the massive LED screen in the center of the room, a video played on loop—footage of Lydia handing out backpacks to underprivileged children in remote villages, and late-night shots of her working tirelessly on the Westside Development project.

My father stepped onto the platform, microphone in hand, his voice booming across the lobby.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great misfortune to announce that we brought home a daughter of such rotten character."

"Out of pure jealousy, she spread vicious, slanderous rumors about Lydia throughout this company."

"She has not only damaged our family's reputation—she has committed an unforgivable moral crime!"

My mother stood beside him, covering her face and sobbing like a victim in a courtroom drama.

The employees, not knowing the full story, began whispering amongst themselves.

"Once trash, always trash—doesn't matter if you put her in a mansion."

"I heard she grew up in some backwater foster home. People from places like that are all liars and thieves."

"If she's willing to slander her own sister, there's nothing she wouldn't do."

Their venomous words surrounded me like a tightening noose.

Lydia, supported by Julian, walked up to me and held out a piece of paper—a printed confession titled Statement of Guilt and Apology.

"Evelyn, I know why you did this."

"All you have to do is sign this, admit you lied, and apologize to me in front of everyone. Then I'll forgive you."

I stared at her smug face, my chest heaving with barely restrained rage.

"I never said those things."

"But if I had said you slept with Mr. Harrington—"

Before I could finish, Julian's polished oxford slammed into the back of my knee.

I collapsed onto the marble floor with a sickening crack, pain exploding through my leg.

The employees around me erupted in laughter.

Some even pulled out their phones, snapping photos and recording videos of my humiliation.

"Karma's a bitch!"

Shame tore through me like a serrated blade.

And then—

"Stop! Evelyn didn't lie! I can prove it!"

Everyone froze.

A young woman shoved her way through the crowd.

She is the intern I'd comforted on my first day at the office, who'd been crying in the break room after getting chewed out by her supervisor.

She planted herself in front of me, her voice shaking but firm as she pointed at Lydia.

"I saw it with my own eyes that night when we were working late!"

"Lydia got into Mr. Harrington's car, and they were in the backseat together—I recorded the whole thing!"

The entire lobby went dead silent.

Lydia's face drained of color.

But she recovered quickly, throwing herself into Julian's arms and wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Julian! How much did Evelyn pay this girl to lie for her?!"

"First she makes up disgusting rumors, and now she's bribing people to back her up! What kind of monster does that?!"

"I can't take this anymore—I just want to die!"

The crowd's shock instantly morphed into contempt.

Julian's expression darkened, and he pulled Lydia closer, glaring at the intern with pure hatred.

He stepped forward and backhanded her across the face.

The intern lost her balance and hit the floor hard, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

My eyes went wide.

"You've gone too far—"

"Throw this traitorous little bitch out of my building!" my father roared.

"Fire her immediately! Blacklist her from every company in the industry—I want her name ruined!"

Four security guards swarmed the intern, raining fists and kicks down on her fragile body.

She curled into a ball on the floor, her screams growing weaker and weaker.