Chapter 3

After leaving the mansion, I went straight to my studio.

I quickly cleared out a small room, put my things away, and immediately began working on my new designs.

The "Starlight" competition that weekend was an international fashion design event, and I’d signed up a month ago.

If Brandon hadn't dragged me to the clinic, my design draft would have been finished ages ago.

I picked up my pen and sketched on the paper until late into the night before finally putting it down.

Looking at the finished design, I rubbed my tired eyes.

I carefully put the drawing away and walked into the bedroom.

But what I never expected was to wake up the next morning to find my studio looking as if it had been ransacked, everything in disarray.

My design sketches were torn into pieces and scattered everywhere, and the clothes I’d been working on had been cut to shreds with scissors.

Seeing the havoc, I clenched my hands.

I knew this had to be Chloe. She had pulled stunts like this more than once or twice.

I just hadn’t expected that even after I changed the locks, Chloe would still find a way in to destroy my things.

Just then, the culprit swaggered in from outside the studio, a triumphant look on her face.

"Oh dear, Riley, what... happened here?"

Chloe feigned surprise, then covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Riley, even if you're fighting with Brandon, you shouldn't take it out on your own work!"

With that, Chloe squatted down, daintily picking up a torn sketch with her fingertips.

"Look, just look at this! Such beautiful work, tsk tsk tsk, ruined. What a shame."

"What are you doing here?"

Watching Chloe's smug expression, my hands clenched tighter and tighter.

"Me? Oh, I just wanted to see what you, a discarded woman, could possibly do after leaving the Hayes family."

Chloe tossed the crumpled sketch she held, then dismissively brushed her hands together.

She then pulled out the "Sunrise Mountain" necklace from her bag.

"Yesterday, when you looked at this necklace, it seemed quite important to you, didn't it?"

"But..."

Chloe then let go. The necklace, losing its support, dropped straight to the floor with a crisp clatter.

"But to me, it's just trash."

Having said that, Chloe stepped on the necklace with one foot.

"Oh, and by the way, let me tell you another secret."

Seeing my rising fury, Chloe's smile widened.

She lifted her foot, slowly walked over to me, bent down, and whispered softly in my ear:

"Riley, do you know? That car accident three years ago? I was behind it!"

That single, soft sentence made my pupils constrict instantly.

"You... what did you say?"

My voice trembled as I stared at Chloe in disbelief.

"Surprised?" Chloe chuckled.

"I just paid someone to tamper with the brakes."

"This is all your fault. Why did you get pregnant with Brandon's child?"

"If it weren't for you, Brandon wouldn't have been in that car accident. Riley Maxwell, it's all your fault."

As Chloe lightly chuckled, my heart felt like it was being ripped apart by a thousand knives.

If not for that accident, Brandon and I would be a happy family of three now.

And now, she was telling me it was a human act, not fate.

Unable to hold back any longer, I raised my hand, already clenched into a fist.

Just then, Chloe suddenly seized my hand mid-air.

"Riley, don't, don't do this! This is a gift from Brandon, don't ruin it..."

Immediately after, before I could react, Chloe deliberately fell heavily to the ground.

At the same time, Brandon's icy voice echoed from behind me.

"What are you doing?"