Victoria wheeled herself toward me with confidence, and gloated, "Mindy, are you afraid of me?"

"Why should I be afraid of you?" I laughed incredulously. "Ms. Clifford, don't forget that now I'm Nicholas's wife. You're the other woman."

Victoria's expression remained unbothered, as if she didn't consider herself a homewrecker at all.

"You said it yourself, Mindy, ‘now’. If I hadn't gone abroad, do you think you could have married Nick?"

True enough: I wouldn't have married Nicholas if Victoria hadn't left, if Grandpa Hank hadn't pushed for a marriage, or if we hadn't both gotten drunk that night and slept together, not even in ten more years.

“But who cares? We are married now,” I consoled myself with this self-deception.

"What about you? If you truly loved Nicholas, why did you leave him?" I shot back. "Or if Nicholas really loved you like you claim, why did he let you go abroad?"

A crack appeared in Victoria's perfect face, though it vanished instantly. "For that same reason, when he said that he regretted it, that he missed me, when he begged me to come back, I did."

I froze. Would Nicholas really say that?

Nicholas begged her to come back?

Impossible. He wouldn’t put his pride aside to beg a woman to return.

But what if that woman was his ex? Would Nicholas really go that low for a woman?

I couldn't help but think, “If Nicholas and I ever get divorced, he'd probably never beg me to come back.”

I laughed bitterly. Forget begging, he'd probably tell me to get lost and never show my face again.

I glared at Victoria; my eyes must have been full of hatred and jealousy.

Victoria, noticing she'd hit a nerve, continued, "You probably don't know, but for many nights, he'd call me to comfort me until I fell asleep."

I remembered: right after our wedding, when Nicholas and I slept in separate rooms, I often heard gentle voices coming from his room. So it was that, he was comforting Victoria.

"That doesn't matter. You're still the other woman." I turned around to leave, not wanting to hear more. "Ms. Clifford, if there’s nothing else, I’m not going with you."

Victoria suddenly grabbed my arm, stopping me.

Then, she raised her hand, showing me the diamond ring on her finger.

The sunset landed on that massive diamond, its glare piercing my eyes.

I heard Victoria say, "Nick and I are getting married. You've seen this ring, right? He just bought it for me. It's our wedding ring."

My voice trembled uncontrollably. "What... What did you say?"

"Nick couldn't bear to tell you himself, so he asked me to. You should get your paperwork ready to prepare for the divorce soon."

I couldn't take it anymore and tried to shake off her hand. "Let Nicholas tell me himself."

Before I could even touch her arm, she suddenly let go of me, and her wheelchair rolled backward, tumbling down the steps.

Victoria yelled, "Nick, help!"

"Vicky!" Nicholas shouted. Suddenly, he pushed me from behind to the ground and rushed recklessly toward Victoria.