Chapter 1
I picked up my phone and went live, the camera aimed at a wedding suite that looked festive but felt ice-cold-and at Tristan and me pressed close together.
“Oh my God, isn’t that Mrs. Jones?”
“Donovan’s out playing with a young model, and Mrs. Jones is fooling around with some other man in the bridal suite. Rich people really do whatever they want.”
“Who’s that guy? That body is insane. Mrs. Jones is lucky.”
“I know him-he’s Donovan’s younger brother, Tristan Jones. The Jones family’s ‘Little Donovan’!”
In just a few minutes, millions flooded into the stream. It shot straight to No. 1 on the rankings.
I was in a silk nightgown, leaning into Tristan, one hand hooked under his chin as I murmured,
“You’ve got guts, helping me like this. Aren’t you afraid your brother’s going to be pissed?”
A notification chimed. Tristan glanced down, then grinned like a delinquent.
“I am. That’s why I’m leaving first. I’m not sticking around to listen to him nag.”
A few minutes later, Donovan stormed in with a face like thunder. Right behind him was Ava, her cheeks still flushed, the post-coital glow not even gone yet.
The headline video I’d just seen flashed through my mind, and the sour ache I’d forced down surged back up.
I hadn’t even opened my mouth.
“Smack.”
A slap whipped my head to the side.
“Isabella, are you really this shameless? Seducing your own brother-in-law?”
“Seduce a man, go live while you’re at it-you still have any dignity left?”
Donovan ground his teeth, the disgust in his eyes like he was staring at trash.
Slowly, I turned back. I wiped the blood seeping at the corner of my mouth and let my voice drip with mockery.
“Donovan, what right do you have to talk to me like that?”
Five years into this marriage alliance, I’d been laughed at across the city for five years.
Everyone said I was a placeholder in the Jones family.
Even the Jones household staff knew how to size people up. They’d found a hundred ways to show me attitude.
I’d swallowed it for five years.
And now he thought I’d still sit in this bridal suite like an idiot, waiting for him to “grant” me his attention?
Ignoring the fury on Donovan’s face, I turned to leave. Then a harsh ripping sound sliced through the air behind me.
“Ah!”
I toppled backward. My nightgown tore open and slid down, exposing far too much skin.
The livestream I hadn’t managed to shut off erupted instantly.
“Holy hell-the perks tonight are unreal!”
I snatched the bedsheet, wrapped it around myself, and closed the stream. When I spun around, I saw Ava’s heel planted on the torn hem of my nightgown.
“Ava! You bitch!”
Fury detonated in my chest. I lifted my hand-but Donovan grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
Ava chose that moment to speak, her voice soft and wronged.
“Isabella, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
As she spoke, she dabbed at the corner of her eye, deliberate in how helpless she looked.
Donovan’s brows knit, his expression turning even darker.
“Isabella, what does this have to do with Ava? You’re the one acting cheap.”
He shoved me hard. I couldn’t stop myself from slamming into the table.
Crash.
Porcelain shattered on the floor. A jagged shard speared straight into my palm, and blood instantly soaked into the carpet.
Donovan didn’t even blink. His voice stayed cold as steel.
“That’s your lesson. Maybe it’ll teach you to remember.”
“From now on, behave like Mrs. Jones. Don’t embarrass me again.”
I collapsed on the floor, pain twisting my face.
Tears gathered fast in my eyes. I clenched my jaw and forced them back-I refused to let a single drop fall.
Seeing me with my head lowered, Donovan seemed about to reach out-but Ava slipped in and stopped him.
“Sis, get up. The floor’s cold.”
I slapped her hand away and pushed myself up, unsteady, using the other hand for support.
Donovan’s face went black.
“Isabella, these pathetic tricks you use to get my attention? Disgusting.”
“You and Ava were taught by the same professor. How can you two be so different?”
My body went rigid. My face drained of color. My heart clenched so hard it felt like it tore.
A tear slid down soundlessly. Donovan and Ava’s retreating figures blurred at the edges of my vision.
After a long time, I finally picked up my phone and dialed that number.
Donovan, this Donna assignment, I wasn’t doing it anymore.
