Chapter Three

Chapter Three

I didn't back down an inch. I looked him in the eye. "Oh? Funny you should put it that way. Isn't Kayla an adult?"

"Fourth-year, right? Funny—she could pass for a high-school kid."

"Didn't know that was your type. Bet you're having a blast. And hey, she's legal, so..."

Ryan's pupils contracted.

His hand came up and slapped me hard across the face, cutting me off mid-sentence.

My head snapped sideways. The taste of rust flooded my mouth.

"Lauren!"

He was the one who'd hit me, yet he said my name like he was the one who'd been wounded.

Ryan looked full of regret. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it... But you can't talk about a cadet that way!"

I laughed.

I didn't say a word. I raised my hand and slapped him right back.

"Ryan," I said coldly, "she's your cadet. Not mine."

"To me, she's the other woman who wormed her way into my marriage, and the thief who took the one thing my father left me. Am I wrong?"

Ryan's face changed completely. His eyes went frighteningly sharp. "I'll say it one more time. Kayla is not 'the other woman'!"

"Lauren, whatever happened to trusting me? When did you get so filthy-minded?"

Rage lodged in my chest. I was about to tell him to get out when the side door of the garage swung open.

Kayla poked her head in, all playful. "Sir, please don't fight over me anymore. I came to apologize."

She gave me a big, gracious bow.

"Ma'am, last year during that huge rainstorm, I came over to the instructor's place to change clothes. I saw the bracelet on the bathroom counter, figured it was nothing valuable, and just sort of put it on and left with it."

"The instructor didn't give it to me, so please don't blame him. I apologize."

Ryan's gaze went soft in an instant. He reached out and stroked her hair. "It's not your fault, Kayla. I should've explained it better."

Watching this little scene, I felt my face go gray. My stomach churned.

You figure something's not worth much, so you just put it on and walk off with it? That's called stealing.

And besides.

Who was he to forgive her on my behalf?

Ryan shoved me aside and turned to Kayla, his voice gentle. "This is a family matter. I'll take care of it. You've already apologized—there was no need to come all the way out here. I'll drive you back."

I watched his car pull away, shaking with fury.

Right on cue, my phone rang. Riley:

Sis, did you go see Kayla yesterday?

The college's anonymous gossip account is nothing but posts trashing you right now!

I opened the two screenshots she sent, and my blood ran cold.

HUGE TEA! Deputy chief of cardiothoracic surgery at a certain Army hospital, "Dr. P," pulls rank to publicly humiliate a female cadet!

Word is she's famous for torturing interns. To everyone rotating through CT surgery next month: good luck, you'll need it.

Let's be real—it's just an old woman jealous of a pretty young girl. Can't keep her own husband on a leash, so she takes it out on a student?

The attached photo was a candid shot of me sitting in the dining hall.

Every word was a knife. In a few short lines, they'd turned me into a bitter, unhinged, menopausal shrew.

Riley called right after. "Sis! Did you see it? It's that little brat Kayla, I know it is!"

"I know."

I cut her off, my voice strangely calm.

"Riley, do me a favor. Find out who runs that account, and dig up everything there is on Kayla. But don't touch anything illegal."

It was just a PR war.

I'd been fighting those at the hospital since before Kayla was in grade school.