Yulia stayed at home for a week, and soon, the news of her divorce was made public. It spread like wildfire through her social circle, with messages flooding her Snapchat and phone. But all she wanted was to ignore it and distance herself from the chaos.

Yannick sent her a message, apologizing but mainly urging her to keep the truth to herself.

The Langford family couldn’t afford to lose face.

Cowardly bastard. He had the guts to come out of the closet but couldn’t even own up to it—absolute trash.

If she knew who the man behind Yannick was, Yulia would never have kept quiet. For twenty-six years, she had been too easy to manipulate. She had believed that as long as she was obedient, docile, and understanding, things wouldn’t go wrong.

Three years of marriage, living like strangers, she had once thought Yannick was a thoughtful and gentle man. She had even naively opened up to him about her disappointment in her mother.

At the beginning of their marriage, Yulia had believed Yannick was just giving her space and time to adjust to their relationship, which was why they hadn’t been intimate. Zinnia’s insistence had led to a whirlwind marriage, and Yulia had even felt grateful for his patience.

But little did she know, she was just a cover for Yannick to hide his true sexual orientation.

When she saw the steamy photos of Yannick kissing another man, it felt as though her blood froze. It was as if her eyes could see through the images.

It turned out that Yannick wasn’t a man with no desires—he was just a bastard who wanted to be fucked by someone else!

And now, despite everything, he still had the audacity to ask her to cover for him.

In the piano room, Yulia's fingers moved faster and faster, the notes becoming a blur, until her hands slammed down onto the keys. Her breath was heavy, but her heart remained unsettled.

Her phone had been buzzing incessantly these past few days, and she didn't even need to look to know how chaotic the outside world was.

A divorce from a small company couple wouldn’t make the headlines, but with her mother Zinnia’s iron-fisted reputation in the business world, coupled with her childhood fame as The Prodigy Pianist, Yulia knew that her situation would soon become fodder for gossip among the city’s circles.

Could someone just make her world quiet for once?

"Yulia!"

"Yulia!"

Hannah’s voice rang out from outside the piano room, and Yulia closed the piano lid before stepping out to find Hannah looking visibly relieved.

"Why haven't you been answering your phone? The whole city is talking about it! They’re saying you... cheated during your marriage, which led to your family falling apart. Why aren’t you explaining anything?" Hannah demanded.

Yulia paused, hand frozen midair as she reached for her water cup, looking at Hannah in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you not seen the messages these past few days?" Hannah asked in shock.

Yulia shook her head. "It’s too noisy. I don’t want to see."

The people she cared about had quietly disappeared, while those she didn’t want to deal with flooded her phone with messages. Every time her phone lit up, it just made her more frustrated.

Hannah rolled her eyes and handed Yulia her phone. A blurry picture appeared on the screen.

It was a photo from the day of her divorce—her and Harrison at the Auto Service Center.

Yulia’s eyes froze as she saw herself in the photo, smiling knowingly, her hand just barely touching Harrison’s abs in an intimate way. The only redeeming feature was that Harrison’s face was in profile.

"Now everyone’s saying you have a pure, innocent look, but behind that, you’re a loose woman who cheated and got abandoned by your in-laws. They’re also saying your mother’s company is taking a hit because of this," Hannah said bluntly.

Yulia's anger flared up. She scoffed twice, then walked to the piano room to grab her phone and dialed Yannick’s number.

The man’s voice sounded harsher than ever, "So, you’re finally answering? If I had known this would happen, why bother..."

"Yannick, I’ll say this once!" Yulia interrupted him, her voice icy.

She could almost hear him growling on the other end.

"In three hours. If my photo is still being passed around, I will make sure everyone sees yours too!" Yulia’s teeth clenched as she suddenly smirked. "A full-on kiss. Front view."

"Yulia, you—"

Before Yannick could say another word, Yulia hung up, cutting him off without giving him a chance to reply.

Hannah stared at her, helplessly speaking up. "I don’t think Yannick is the one who leaked this. Have you pissed anyone off recently?"

Yulia raised an eyebrow. Pissed someone off? She’d always kept a low profile, never as flashy and domineering as her mother. When had she ever angered someone? Unless...

"There’s the Young Pianist Competition internationally. I’m a finalist alongside Questa Carlton, and one of us will be chosen to represent the country." That was the only thing she could think of.

"Questa?!" Hannah cursed under her breath. "That woman has no skills, but she always pulls dirty tricks like this. It’s disgusting. With this scandal, she’s definitely going to take the spot."

Yulia sighed. "It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t planning to go anyway. But..." She couldn’t shake her unease about the photo.

Harrison’s face flashed through her mind, bringing a wave of frustration. She had just wanted him to help her with her first night, but now it seemed like she had dragged him into a whole mess.

The guy had already been put off by her.