Chapter 2
The moment I hung up on him, I blocked his number.
Emily and I spent the next month out in the world, enjoying ourselves without a single thought of Scott.
When we finally came home, relaxed and recharged, I opened the front door–and froze.
The place looked like it had been ransacked.
My vanity was cluttered with Chloe’s cheap makeup. My clothes were shoved into a corner of the closet, replaced by her gaudy dresses.
Emily’s room was an even bigger disaster–her beloved toys were scattered everywhere, some broken.
She bent down to pick up her favorite doll, tears welling in her eyes.
“Mommy… they broke them…”
Rage shot straight to the top of my head.
I grabbed my phone and called the house manager, my voice cold enough to freeze glass.
“What the hell happened? Get over here. Now.”
He practically stumbled through the door minutes later, face pale.
“Mrs. Collins! It… it was Mr. Collins! He brought Ms. Bennett here and told us not to touch anything. He… he said this would be her place from now on. We didn’t dare go against him.”
“Where is Scott?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“He… he took Ms. Bennett to Brookhaven for a project meeting. Said… said they’d be back tomorrow.”
A project?
I pulled out my phone, checked his GPS, and saw his Porsche parked at the Grand Oak Resort & Spa.
What kind of ‘project‘ gets discussed at a resort?
I swallowed down the boiling anger, dropped Emily off at my mother’s, and floored it straight to the so–called project meeting.
At the resort, I asked the front desk for his whereabouts and headed directly to the private hot spring area they mentioned.
And there they were–through the haze of steam, Scott and Chloe sat in the same pool.
She was wearing a barely–there swimsuit, practically plastered against him as they flirted without a care in the world.
A wave of disgust rolled through me.
I turned on my heel, asked a nearby attendant for a large bucket of ice, and hauled it back to the pool.
Without a word, I dumped it over the pair of them.
“Aah-! Which idiot-
Scott leapt up, swearing, then froze when he saw me. His anger melted into shock and panic.
“Je–Jessica? What are you doing here? I thought you were on vacation with Emily-”
“Oh, please.”
My voice was pure venom.
“If I hadn’t come back, this house would be completely overrun. You have one minute to get dressed and get the hell out.”
My gaze cut like a blade as it slid to Chloe, shivering theatrically and clutching her chest.
Chapter 2
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“Quite the young schemer–so young, and already such a skilled little temptress.‘
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears as she put on her best wounded act.
“Mrs. Collins, I don’t understand what you mean… I have dignity too—”
“Dignity?”
I stepped forward and slapped her, hard. The sharp crack echoed off the tile.
“You think you’re qualified to talk to me about dignity?”
Scott, now in a robe, rushed over and shielded her, shouting at me.
“Jessica! How could you hit her?”
“Hit her?”
I let out a bitter laugh, then swung again–this time my hand connecting with Scott’s face, the full force behind it.
“I’m not just going to hit her. I’m going to hit you too.”
