"I don't care, I'm waiting here anyway," Denise said before hanging up.

Well, Lily was her ride-or-die after all.

About ten minutes later, Denise finally saw Lily heading over.

"Oh my god, girl! What are you even wearing? Is that a man's shirt?! Don't tell me you got laid last night, Denise!" Lily stared at her like she'd seen a ghost.

Denise had known Lily would show up. "Close enough. Vivian and Arthur drugged me and set me up."

"Seriously?! That's messed up. Okay, Vivian being evil I get-she's your stepmom and all-but Arthur's your real dad! How can he even sleep at night?"

Lily was fuming. As Denise's bestie, she really felt her pain.

"What can I do, right? Anyway, weren't you supposed to be in Cynthia's class? How'd you manage to bail?"

"I have my ways. Told her I had a 'stomachache' and needed the bathroom."

"And then poof, disappeared down the toilet, huh?"

"Exactly. Otherwise, people would be side-eyeing you right now like you just walked off a scandal set in that outfit."

Denise found a public restroom to change into Lily's spare clothes. Luckily, they were pretty much the same size.

"So, what now?" Lily asked, pulling a face.

"What else? Suck it up and move on. You should go back to class though, or Cynthia might actually send people to fish you out of a toilet."

"You're so annoying," Lily muttered as she turned to leave.

Denise wandered down the street alone, heading slowly toward the Montgomery house. That ache in her chest hadn't gone away. Her own father did this to her.

She had a half-sister-why couldn't they throw Samantha Montgomery at Mr. Donovan instead? Why her?

Thinking about everything she went through last night, Denise clenched her fists. She swore she'd get her revenge one day. No more letting them walk over her.

When she finally got home, the whole family was waiting.

"Oh wow, look who finally decided to come back," Samantha said with a smug grin. Her half-sister couldn't sound more fake.

"You useless girl! You've got some nerve showing your face after what you pulled last night!" Arthur roared the second he saw her.

"You're my father! How could you?! Just for a bit of money, you literally sold me off? Disgusting!" Denise shouted back, heart broken all over again.

Smack!

Arthur slapped her hard. "Ungrateful brat! I gave you life-least you can do is repay me! Mr. Donovan fancied you, and you repaid him with a smashed ashtray to the head?! You trying to ruin me?"

All Arthur cared about was his precious contract.

"Exactly! Denise, do you even consider the consequences of your actions? Thanks to you, Mr. Donovan canceled the deal and swore he'd never work with our company again!" Vivian chimed in, delighted to throw gasoline on the fire.

She was just dying for Arthur to beat the crap out of Denise.

"Someone get the belt! I'll teach this wretch a lesson today!"

"I'm your daughter. If I'm a wretch, then what does that make you?" Denise shot back, eyes cold. She was past caring. Before, she would've stayed quiet. Not anymore.

Arthur raised the belt and started hitting Denise without hesitation. Denise instantly tried to make a run for it, but Vivian had already told her men to block her way and pin her to the floor.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The belt landed hard again and again on Denise. She bit her lip, fists clenched tight, eyes burning with defiance. One day, she'd make them pay-double!

"Denise, don't blame your dad. You've brought this on yourself," Vivian said smugly from the chair. "Look at Samantha. She just got engaged to the CEO of the Harrington family. Soon she'll be Mrs. Harrington, and we'll all benefit from that. But you? We ask you to sleep with Mr. Donovan and you beat him up instead? Your dad had to pay for his hospital bills! Seriously, are you crazy?"

Denise shot Vivian a hateful glare. "Since it sounds so easy, why don't YOU go sleep with Mr. Donovan?"

Vivian's face went stiff with anger. Just as she was about to snap back, the butler came rushing in. "Sir, Madam, Mr. Harrington is here."

Vivian's face instantly lit up. "Well well, speak of the devil!"

Samantha's cheeks flushed with excitement.

Denise couldn't care less who this CEO guy was. She only vaguely recalled hearing Samantha got engaged to some rich dude.

Arthur finally stopped hitting her and barked at her to get out of the way.

Right then, a tall man walked through the door. Black suit, white shirt, legs so long he could've walked straight off a drama set. And that face-so damn handsome it was unreal.

"Jason!" Samantha sprinted over, her voice honey-sweet.

Jason barely reacted, his expression cool. His gaze swept past them and landed on Arthur and Vivian. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery."

"Jason, come in! Sit, sit!" Arthur said eagerly. "Butler, tea, now!"

He wasn't stupid. Jason wasn't just some rich kid-he ran the entire Harrington financial empire. The youngest CEO in Seaville, a real shark in the business world. The man could shake the whole city by just moving a finger.

Then Jason looked over to where Denise stood. Their eyes met.

Oh. Hell. No.

That face. That voice. That was the guy from last night?!

Her one-night stand was... her sister's fiancé?!

What kind of twisted mess was this?!

Heh.

Denise's lips curled into a cold smile.

Alright then. Since they played dirty first, she'd stop playing nice.

Jason turned to Arthur. "Mr. Montgomery, who's she?"

Before Arthur could answer, Samantha jumped in, eager to set the tone. "She's my younger sister. Bit of a troublemaker. Dad was just teaching her a lesson."

In Seaville, everyone knew Samantha. Nobody had ever heard of Denise.

No wonder Jason had no clue who she was.

What happened next totally stunned everyone-Jason actually stepped forward and helped Denise up.

Denise didn't resist. They had just parted ways that morning, and here they were running into each other at the Montgomerys' place again. Guess fate really had plans for them.

"Ugh, that hurts," Denise winced instantly.

Jason's expression darkened. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, so you're my brother-in-law now? Jason, I'm hurting all over... Dad hit me just now. Can you take me to the hospital?" Denise leaned into Jason, eyes wide and pitiful, looking up at him.

Arthur and Vivian gave each other a look. Meanwhile, Samantha was so mad she looked like her nose was about to go crooked.

That little witch! Acting all weak in front of Jason? She really was pushing it.

Jason smirked faintly. "Sure."

Vivian quickly jumped in. "Jason, Denise is just being dramatic. Don't worry about her-I'll have someone else take her to the hospital."

As a woman, Vivian could see right through Denise's act. Yeah, this girl was clearly eyeing Samantha's man.

Samantha panicked. "Jason, don't believe her! She's totally faking it. This isn't new-my sister's always been like this. Dad barely touched her, really."

Denise had always been prettier than her since they were kids. At nineteen, her looks and figure already outshined Samantha's-and that had always been a sore spot for her.

Jason said calmly, "It's my first time visiting your place. Since we're about to become one family, let's treat each other like family." With that, he just picked Denise up and walked out.

Everyone in the Montgomery family was left speechless. Samantha stomped her foot in frustration.

"Dad, Mom! Look at Denise! She just met Jason and she's already trying to seduce him," she cried, nearly in tears.

Arthur sighed. "Alright, alright. Jason's probably just being polite. Denise's just some teenage girl. Jason's not into little girls. Don't get so jealous. You and Jason are engaged, remember? Show some maturity. The Harringtons won't like it if you act all jealous and petty."

Vivian stepped in, too. "Honey, listen to your father. I've been through this, I know what's up. There's no way I'm letting Denise pull the same stunt her mom did back in the day-seducing your dad like that. I won't let history repeat itself. You've got the ring, Jason's your fiancé, and men don't like it when women fight and act all jealous."

"...I get it, Mom," Samantha mumbled. She was fuming inside, but she held it in.

Outside, Jason finally put Denise down.

"Had enough of your little show?" he asked.

Denise gave him a wide-eyed grin. "What show? I don't get what you mean."

Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. "Denise, I haven't even gotten around to confronting you, and now you're pulling me into your drama?"

"Oh? But what if I tell my sister what happened last night between you and me?" Denise tilted her head, smiling playfully at him.

From this moment on, she was going to get close to this man, seduce him even-just to get back at Arthur and the rest of them.