Angelica's POV
The security at this pathetic event was tighter than I expected, but they were no match for a woman with a goal.
I had spent days grooming a naive socialite acquaintance, playing on her vanity until she practically begged me to take the invitation she couldn't use.
I entered through the main doors, my hair tucked under a dark, inconspicuous wig that I discarded the moment I reached the shadows of the ballroom.
I smoothed my red dress. It was a blood-red scream in a room of muted, pretentious colors. I could see them across the floor-Drey, his pristine family, and that smug sister of his, Samantha.
My heart hammered against my ribs, not with fear, but with righteous fury.
He belongs to me, I told myself.
He is just playing the role of the devoted husband for that little mouse.
I strode across the floor, my eyes locked on Drey. As I neared their circle, I saw the tension in his shoulders.
Good. He was waiting for me. I reached out, my fingers digging into his arm as I leaned into his space, practically breathing the words into his ear.
"Hi, babe," I purred, making sure the nearby guests could hear.
"How rude of you to not invite me. As if I'm no one to you. We both know whose heart you really beat for. I don't want to be hidden anymore."
Drey froze. For a split second, I saw the old Drey-the one who would have folded under my touch-but then his eyes shifted, darkening with something closer to terror.
"Angelica, what the hell are you doing here?" he hissed, trying to pull away.
"Get your hands off him, you pathological liar!" Samantha's voice was a violent hiss.
She lunged, her fingers clamping down on my arm with bruising force.
"Stop your pathetic games and get the hell out of here before I have you arrested!"
I shook her off, stumbling back. Across the circle, I saw Loraine's brother, Nathan, watching me with eyes that could kill. He pulled his phone from his pocket, his thumb hovering over the dial for the security team.
"Drey, tell them!" I screamed, ignoring the heavy silence that had fallen over the ballroom.
"Tell them it's all a lie! Tell them you love me! Tell them she's just a contract wife!"
Drey's face was pale, his eyes darting to his parents, whose gazes were fixed on him like icy daggers of accusation.
"She's an ex, Mom, Dad. She's unstable," Drey stammered, his voice sounding hollow.
"I don't know why she's here. She's lying about everything!"
"I am not!" I shrieked. Tears of rage blurred my vision. I tried to grab Drey again, but then the lights dimmed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the creator of this magnificent collection, Mrs. Loraine Stranton."
The room shifted. Every head turned away from me and toward the stage.
Loraine.
The little mouse walked out, looking like she owned the stars.
I watched in frozen horror as she navigated the crowd, her face a mask of serene, untouchable class.
When she reached us, she didn't scream. She didn't cry. She just looked at me with that sickening, calm pity.
She turned the entire room against me with a few well-chosen words, framing me as a desperate, pathetic relic of a past that didn't exist. She made me look like an intruder at her own triumph.
The applause that followed was the final nail in my coffin. It was a roar of rejection.
The security team was suddenly all over me. I struggled, I kicked, I screamed that they were all blind-that Drey was a coward-but it was useless.
Loraine stood there, her back to me, the picture of a woman who had never even been scratched by my presence.
They dragged me out through the back exit and tossed me onto the cold concrete of the alleyway.
"Fuck!" I spat, kicking at the dumpster.
I had played it perfectly. I had the dress, the entrance, the perfect lies.
I was supposed to see her cry. I was supposed to see her reputation turn to ash in front of the city's elite.
Instead, she had used me as a prop to make herself look like a saint.
I stood in the darkness, shivering in my red dress, watching the muffled sounds of applause still leaking out from the ballroom.
I had failed.
And for the first time, the cold realization hit me-Drey wasn't just hiding me anymore. He was terrified of her.
I walked toward the street, cussing under my breath, my mind already spinning with new, darker ways to burn it all down. This isn't over, I promised the night air.
Next time, I won't just ruin her night. I'll make sure she never wakes up.
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A/N: I am so sorry for the error. Thank you @Rhbrown for pointing out this mistake. I will try my best not to confuse my characters with my other Characters😅. I am deeply sorry again for the confusion 🙏🏻💦.
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