Chapter 2

Maddy's POV

I was late.

Devastatingly and irresponsibly late for work, and for the very first time in my life, I did not care.

My eyes were crusted with the salt of my silent tears, blind to the passage of time.

None of it mattered.

My whole body ached; it felt like lead when I heaved myself up out of the bench. Eating made my stomach queasy. I gazed at myself in the pawnshop mirror and scowled. I wasn't myself. My eyes were flat, and the sparkle was gone. Even my mouth was no longer smiling.

I shoved myself into my vehicle and slammed shut my door when I got into my driver's side. A few minutes ago, I had barely been able to take my smile off my face; I was so euphoric, and now?

Oh, how quickly things can change.

The drive to my office, where I spent my days, was a blur of traffic and the consistent rumble of my own thoughts. Max had been my partner for so long, I had invested so heavily in Max, my love and my loyalty.

That's what he wanted to do with me?

My whirling mind sifted through the times that he had been around me, how he had been so good at manipulating me. It was not just about finding him with that bitch, it was deeper than that. And now I saw it. How stupidly blinded I had been, and he had taken me for such a fool.

"You are so ambitious, Maddy, it's wonderful," he'd coo, his hand stroking my arm, "but at times, darling, it makes you appear a tad. intense." He had mocked my aspirations with a smile, delicately whittling at my self-esteem. I swallowed hard as my hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"A lovely little project you've got there, Maddy. Well done, you," he'd remark, in effect erasing weeks of my labour. I could almost hear his voice now, so smooth as velvet, laced with false praise: "Your thoughts are wonderful, dear, but they just require a certain. refinement."

I got to the office exactly thirty-five minutes late, my alibi a lame, stuttering "traffic." My boss, Mr. Harrison, only nodded at me briefly, his eyes already returned to his screen monitor.

My unusual lateness did not perturb him so much. I scowled as the typical commotion of the office appeared to close in around me: the smiling faces and hellos of my coworkers. I didn't know why, but I wondered if they knew the truth?

That Alissa was fucking my partner, the CEO of this company.

Maybe they felt sorry for me? Or scared to approach me with the truth.

As if the entire planet didn't come to an end when yours had exploded.

Settling into my cubicle, I attempted to look attentive at my screen, but my thoughts persisted in their tireless digging. Max was a piece of the puzzle, but Alissa's victorious smile, her jealous hold on Max's arm, suggested a larger plotting. It was a sickening, chilling epiphany.

It wasn't long before the pieces started to click into place, ushered by a cruel twist of fate. I was on my way to the small breakroom, desperate for a strong coffee, when I overheard snippets of conversation from the adjacent, rarely used, meeting room. The door was ajar, and two junior colleagues, Chloe and Mark, were chatting in hushed tones, oblivious to my presence. I knew they were discussing me.

"I feel bad for her. Poor Maddy. Apparently, her big pitch to Sterling last month was a total disaster. It was so cringe that even Max was tempted to sack her there and then, but she is his girlfriend, so he couldn't just do that." She raised her cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip before placing it on the coffee table. Mark let a deep sigh escape his lips, and his shoulder sagged. I could already feel the strong vibes of pity mixed with judgment.

Mark laughed. "Yeah, I heard. "And being late this morning, what has gotten into her lately?"

A wave of queasiness engulfed me, more intense now than it had been. My stomach churned; my throat constricted with bile. I had to escape there; I had to get some fresh air. I staggered towards the rear exit, my eyesight fogging. When I flung open the heavy fire door behind which lay the isolated alleyway at the side of the building, I heard voices. Max and Alissa. My breath caught in my throat. They were standing behind the dumpsters, their backs towards me, in the midst of what seemed a triumphalist discussion.

"She has no idea, does she?" Alissa's voice, sharper than I'd ever heard it, cut through the quiet. There was a smug, predatory quality to it that sent shivers down my spine. Max chuckled, a low, satisfied sound. "Not a clue. Completely oblivious. It's almost too easy." "Perfect. She'll be out of the picture soon, and then that promotion is mine. And with her reputation in tatters, Harrison won't even think twice." "And our little arrangement can continue, Max?" Alissa purred, her voice dropping to a suggestive whisper. "Of course, darling," Max replied, his voice dripping with an intimacy that made my stomach churn. "A mutually beneficial partnership. You get the career ladder, I get... what I want."

"With Maddy gone, less competition." Alissa paused, a cruel laugh escaping her. "Honestly, she made it so simple. So trusting. Anyone with half a brain could see what was happening. But not Mindless Maddy. And, will you be able to talk to her tonight, convince her that nothing is going on between us?"

The words hit me like a physical blow, each one a shard of glass ripping through my fragile composure. They weren't just having an affair; they had orchestrated my professional downfall, meticulously, deliberately. The one person that I had trusted most, with my heart, my career, had conspired to destroy me. The betrayal was absolute, raw, and all-consuming.

I would have expected something like this from Alissa; she had always been a manipulative, scheming bitch, always out for herself, her own gain. But she feels like a dangerous rival to me more than ever now. She made it clear many times that she would always get what she wanted, and now this. She wanted Max, and she had been sure to have gotten her claws into him so easily. How had I been so blind to the signs?

But, Max? He was supposed to be mine; we were engaged and had made so many plans for our future. How could he hurt me like that?

My immediate impulse was to erupt, to attack them, to shriek every foul truth I had just learned, to reveal them for the villains they were—the phrases were already shaping on my lips, an angry torrent keening for escape. But then a flash of something sterner, harsher, flared up in me. Anger, yes, but a growing, indomitable strength. What would that achieve? They would deny it all, spin more lies, and I, the emotional, betrayed wife, would appear demented. They had played a long game. They deserved to lose in an equally destructive manner.

No.

Not like this.

Not yet.

Taking in a deep shuddering breath, I pushed those screams back down my throat. I would watch. I would wait. They had thought me weak, trusting, and manipulable. They would quickly find out how mistaken they'd been. It wasn't over. It had only just started.