Chapter 2

Cecilia's POV

The plane cruised smoothly at thirty thousand feet.

I leaned back in my seat, staring blankly at the rolling clouds outside while calculating divorce logistics.

Daniel probably wouldn't let go easily. After all, to the outside world, we were still the perfect couple. If I had solid evidence, everything would be much simpler.

With that thought, I glanced at Alice beside me.

"What are you staring at? Never seen a diamond this big?"

Alice had hung up and noticed me looking at her hand. She got all suspicious and nasty, deliberately waving the ring in my face.

"Girls like you could work forever and never afford even one of these little diamonds. I suggest you close your eyes and sleep instead of sitting here being all jealous and bitter."

I said flatly, "You're right, I can't afford it. But then again, I don't have to sleep around for my jewelry."

"What did you just say?!"

Alice was instantly furious. She grabbed the wine glass from her tray table, pretending to slip—

Dark red wine went flying, hitting my cream-colored cashmere coat perfectly.

"Oops, so sorry!" Alice smiled smugly. "The plane hit some turbulence and I lost my grip. Though honestly, that coat looks like a cheap knockoff anyway. I'll throw you fifty bucks for the dry cleaner."

A flight attendant hurried over with towels. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

I stopped the attendant and looked down at the wine stain. This coat was custom-made by a top Italian tailor—a birthday gift from Daniel.

But right now, I didn't care about the coat.

I looked at Alice coldly. "Apologize."

Alice was stunned for a moment, then burst into hysterical laughter.

"Are you KIDDING me right now? You want ME to apologize to YOU? Do you have ANY idea who my boyfriend is?"

She got louder, drawing stares from other passengers.

"He's Daniel Wilson, CEO of Wilson Group! One word from him and you'll be FINISHED in New York!"

I didn't lose my temper. Instead, I pulled out my phone and started recording.

"What are you doing?!" Alice's face went white.

"Keep talking," I said evenly. "Tell me again how you deliberately threw wine on me, and how your boyfriend Daniel plans to ruin my life in New York."

"You psycho bitch! Turn that thing off!"

Alice panicked and lunged for my phone.

I jerked back, keeping my phone away from her while blocking her attack with my left arm. Three years ago, I'd been attacked by kidnappers in the snow while protecting Daniel. Since then, I'd secretly learned quite a bit of self-defense.

Alice's nails scratched my wrist before she lost her balance and fell back into her seat.

I stared down at her coldly. "Back off while you still can. Touch me again and I won't be so nice."

"You BITCH, I'll kill you!" She tried to lunge again.

I picked up her wine glass and dumped the contents over her blonde curls without hesitation. The liquid mixed with her makeup and dripped down, making her look ridiculous and pathetic.

"You're INSANE!"

The flight attendant quickly stepped between us. "Ladies, please calm down!"

Just then, a young attendant quietly approached me and whispered, "Ma'am, I probably shouldn't say this, but... last month this Ms. Baker was on our flight too. She took someone else's seat, and when our head attendant intervened... Mr. Wilson actually bought shares in our airline."

Her voice dropped even lower. "The next day, that head attendant wasn't just fired—she was sued. Mr. Wilson really will do... anything for this woman."

I nodded. "Thanks for the warning. But I'm not afraid."

Alice shoved away the attendant trying to clean her hair and snarled, "You're gonna PAY for this, you bitch!"

Then she grabbed her phone.

"Daniel! You have to DO something!"

As soon as he picked up, she started crying.

"What's wrong, baby? Who upset you?"

"There's this crazy poor woman sitting next to me! She threatened me with her phone, tried to hit me, and now she poured wine all over me! Daniel, I'm so scared—is she some kind of psycho stalker?"

I let out a cold laugh. This woman was quite the actress.

There was a second of silence, then Daniel's icy voice came through the phone. "Put her on."

Alice smugly shoved the phone toward me. "You hear that? My boyfriend wants to talk to YOU!"

I looked at the active call screen but didn't reach for the phone.

"Hello? This is Daniel."

The man's arrogant voice came through the speaker.

"I don't care who you are. Leave my girlfriend alone RIGHT NOW and delete that video. If you want money, I'll have someone give you a check when you land. But if you touch one hair on her head, I'll destroy you."

This was the man I'd loved for ten years.

He didn't ask for my side of the story, didn't care about the facts. Just because his "baby" was upset, he was ready to crush a complete stranger with his power.

I stared at the phone and suddenly started laughing. In that moment, I felt completely free.

I didn't say a word. I just quietly hit save on my own phone, uploading the video of Daniel's threats to the cloud.

When I remained silent, Daniel seemed to lose patience. "Did you hear me? What, are you mute?"

"She's so scared she can't even talk, honey," Alice giggled into the phone.

"You're amazing, baby. When I get off this plane, you BETTER teach her a lesson!"

"Whatever you want, baby. I'll be waiting at arrivals."

He hung up.

Alice looked at me smugly. "Hear that? When we land, I'm going to make you sorry you ever messed with us. Get on your knees and beg now, and maybe I'll tell my boyfriend to go easy on you."

"I'm looking forward to it." I put my phone away without looking up. "I hope your Daniel keeps protecting you like this."

Just then, the captain's voice came over the intercom announcing our descent.