Twenty minutes later, I located Rhea standing outside the luxury hotel in the city center. She was wrapped in a cream-colored trench coat, her eyes swollen and red from crying. "Lyra!" She rushed into my embrace, her entire body visibly trembling. "I can't believe Gareth would betray me like this..."

"Calm down, and tell me precisely what you witnessed," I said, rubbing her back in a soothing motion.

As we walked toward the hotel entrance, I caught a quick glimpse of a tall figure in a dark suit entering the elevator. Something about his build felt strangely familiar—like a more composed version of the man who had just left my apartment—but the doors closed before I could get a better look.

"He claimed he had to work late, but I saw him getting into the elevator with this woman with long hair. They looked... intimate," Rhea sniffled. "They headed up to the eighteenth floor—that's where all the business suites are located."

I squeezed her hands firmly. "Then let's go discover the truth. Whatever the outcome, at least you will have certainty."

We took the elevator up to the eighteenth floor. We crept forward cautiously, our footsteps muffled by the luxurious, thick carpet. As we neared the partially open door, we heard distinct voices from inside—and what we saw next made my blood boil.

Gareth was completely wrapped around a curvy woman, kissing her with a ferocity that suggested his life depended on it.

Rhea gasped, tears instantly streaming down her face again.

“That miserable coward!” I snarled, physically shoving the door open wider.

Gareth and the woman instantly sprang apart. Gareth's face drained to a shocking white. "Rhea? What... how did you manage to find me here?"

"How did I find you?" Rhea's voice shook violently with emotion. "I should be asking what in the Moon Goddess's name you are doing!"

The curvy woman rolled her eyes with complete dismissiveness. "You must be Rhea. Gareth told me all about you—how boring you are, how you lack any passion. He's been looking for an excuse to break up with you for months."

"Shut your mouth!" I stepped forward, glaring intensely at the woman.

Rhea suddenly lunged forward and delivered a hard slap directly across Gareth's face. "Two years! I gave you two years of my life!"

The atmosphere in the room abruptly shifted from tense to explosive. That curvy woman smirked maliciously. "Do you even comprehend who I am?" Her tone was saturated with arrogance.

"I'm Petra," the woman stated with a challenging look. "My family has immense influence in this city. You would be wise not to cross me."

"Really? Because what you are currently doing appears pretty damn immoral to me," I shot back instantly.

"Immoral?" Petra laughed harshly, turning her attention back to Rhea. "Gareth already confided that you're like a dead fish in bed. No wonder he came seeking someone with actual fire!"

That cruel sentence hit Rhea like a physical, debilitating blow. The tears in her eyes seemed to instantly evaporate, replaced by a cold, distinctly dangerous glint. Her whole body instantly went rigid, her hands fiercely clenching into fists. The vulnerable, heartbroken woman vanished.

"You viper!" Rhea's voice was completely transformed now—it was low, deadly, and ice-cold. She lunged forward with a shocking speed, instantly grabbing Petra's hair.

Petra shrieked loudly and fought back. "Let go of me! You pathetic, dumped loser!"

"That strike is for being a home-wrecking slut!" Rhea shouted, delivering a hard slap.

"I am going to completely ruin that beautiful face of yours!" Petra screamed, kicking viciously.

"My dress! That was a ten-thousand-dollar original!" Petra screamed hysterically, then grabbed a heavy glass from the nearby table and hurled it directly at Rhea.

"Watch out!" I instantly shoved Rhea aside, and the glass violently shattered against the wall, sending sharp fragments flying everywhere.

Rhea, now fueled by absolute fury, forced Petra's head down aggressively toward the coffee table. "You crazy psychopath! You actually tried to hit me with a glass weapon?"

Just as Petra was about to bring a heavy flower vase crashing down on Rhea's head, the suite door suddenly burst open with violent force.

Elias Thorne stepped into the room, wearing the same sharp dark gray suit I'd seen in the elevator. The imposing Alpha instantly filled the doorway.

"What in the hell is happening in here?" Elias's voice was profoundly low and commanding, carrying an undeniable authority that instantly made every person in the room freeze in place.