I asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Elise replied, "Exactly what it sounds like. He never loved you.

"Gavin and I have been together since we were teenagers. When he chased you in college, when he sweet-talked you, all of that was for your family's money and connections.

"And while I was pregnant, you were handling his needs for me, like some free whore. So really, why would I care?"

Elise looked down at me like I was beneath her. "You're the mistress I signed off on. As long as my position as the real wife is secure, I couldn't care less about you."

I was stunned by the sheer audacity of her words. She looked thrilled with herself.

"I'm carrying the Prescott family's firstborn son. His parents only recognize me as their real daughter-in-law. If I wanted to, I could have you thrown out tomorrow.

"Sienna Sanches, to us, you're nothing.

"If your family didn't have money or if you couldn't fund Gavin's business, he wouldn't have given you a second look. We grew up together. I gave myself to him the day I turned 18.

"He's told me more than once that every time he touched you, it made his skin crawl. He had to take pills just to get it up.

"And your family almost going bankrupt? That wasn't bad luck. He deliberately funneled your family's key projects to a competitor, all because you were clinging to him, and I got a little jealous.

"Plus, that million dollars he borrowed from you, the one he said was for a business emergency? He spent it on my engagement ring and our wedding. Because I was the one worth investing in, and you were just the fool giving it away for free."

Elise's smirk widened. "So why would I waste my time worrying about someone as worthless and embarrassing as you?"

I was shaking with rage. I raised my hand to slap her, but she moved faster.

She slapped herself hard across the face, once, twice, until her cheeks were red and swollen. Then she dropped to her knees, wrapped her arms around my legs, and burst into tears.

"Ms. Sanches, you have all the money and power in the world. It would be so easy for you to destroy me. But I'm begging you, for the sake of my baby, please stop going after my husband.

"My husband only has eyes for me. Even if you try to throw money at us to tear us apart, we will never give in."

I stood there, completely blindsided. And where no one could see, Elise dug her nails into my thigh so hard that I yelped. The pain was so sudden and sharp that I kicked out on instinct.

She crumpled to the floor, clutching her stomach, her face going pale. "Ms. Sanches, just because you want my husband doesn't mean you can try to kill my baby! Are you trying to drive me and my child to our deaths?"

Every pair of eyes in the restaurant turned on me, filled with hatred. I was shaking from head to toe. A few people rushed forward, pulling Elise behind them protectively and shoving me back hard. I stumbled and hit the ground.

Before I could even get up, someone spat on me and kicked me. "Disgusting homewrecker. You make me sick."

My head struck the leg of a chair, and everything went black.

When I came to, I was in a hospital. It was dark outside, and there was a message from Gavin on my phone.

"Daily check-in photo. I'll be home tomorrow."

The photo looked completely ordinary, like he'd never been living a double life at all. A wave of grief washed over me.

Right then, a message came through from an unknown number.

"Do you know what Gavin is doing right now?"

I tapped in and saw that the person had sent me a photo of a birthday cake. It was Elise's birthday, and the whole family was celebrating together.

Gavin's parents were in the picture, along with every one of his close friends. It made one thing perfectly clear. Elise was the one they all considered Mrs. Prescott.

And me? I had truly become what they called the mistress—the shameful secret no one wanted to acknowledge.

Rage and pain hit me at the same time. I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed.

Since my marriage to Gavin was fake, there was no need for us to file for a divorce. A clean break would do.

I packed up everything Gavin owned and threw it all out, then sent him a breakup message and blocked his number. He never came back, and I thought it was over.

I didn't expect Elise to show up instead.

She arrived with a camera crew trailing behind her, her belly swollen and her daughter in tow. Her face was deathly pale with dark circles carved deep under her eyes.

The moment she saw me, she pulled her daughter forward, and the two of them dropped to their knees right in front of me. She braced one hand against her stomach and started wailing.

"Sienna, you're the Sanches heiress. You could have any man you want. Why do you have to take mine?

"I'm pregnant. My husband is trying to support all three of us, and it's already so hard.

"You're using your family's company to pressure him into being with you. Are you trying to kill us?"

She stayed on her knees, rocking and sobbing so hard that her whole body shook. The young girl knelt beside her, also in tears. My employees stared at me in disbelief, and I watched the way they looked at me shift in real time.

Elise slapped herself across the face with a sharp crack. "Please, just let my husband go. He doesn't want to be with you. I'm begging you."

She threw her arms around my legs and sobbed hysterically. I clenched my jaw and forced the words out through my teeth. "Elise, stop with the act and get out of my building."

People in the crowd had already started livestreaming the scene. I could hear bystanders muttering around me.

"The Sanches heiress is somebody's side piece? Unbelievable."

"And she's making the pregnant wife kneel? That's just evil."

I pried Elise off me and called Gavin. "Get here right now and take Elise away, or I swear you'll regret it."

Gavin rushed over. Elise was still on the ground, clutching her daughter and sobbing uncontrollably. He knelt beside her and gently helped her to her feet, his face full of tenderness.

"Honey, don't beg her for anything. I'm never going to leave you."

"But she's the Sanches heiress. I don't want her making things difficult for you. I don't want you to suffer because of me."

I was shaking with fury as I watched the two of them go back and forth. "Gavin, tell everyone what's really going on. Right now."

Gavin stammered and couldn't get a coherent word out. Meanwhile, Elise tugged at his sleeve, her face twisted in pain.

"Honey, Ms. Sanches has been forcing you to be with her, threatening to destroy your company and leave our family with nothing. I can't stand by and watch you lose everything you've built. Maybe you should just divorce me and be with her."

Their daughter burst into tears. "Mom, Dad, please don't get divorced! I don't want to grow up without a dad!"

Something hardened in Gavin's expression. He looked at me, walked over, and slapped me across the face.

I pressed my hand to my cheek and stared at him in utter disbelief. He glared at me through gritted teeth.

"I've told you a hundred times. I don't care if you're the Sanches heiress. I'm not interested in you. I'd rather die than be with you."

Elise chimed in with a pitying sigh. "I have to wonder what kind of upbringing the Sanches family gave their daughter, if her only ambition is to be someone's mistress. What a disgrace."

I had never been this humiliated in my entire life. My face burned under the weight of every contemptuous stare in the room. The comments from onlookers kept coming, one after another.

"Shameless. The Sanches family is a lost cause."

Just like that, I had become the other woman in everyone's eyes. I looked up at Gavin, my expression going cold.

"Gavin, if you insist on pinning this on me, then you'd better be ready for what comes next."