When Dorene refused to take the glass, Dolly placed the champagne flute down on the marble bar with a soft clink. Without warning, Dolly reached out with both hands and grabbed Dorene's bare wrists, leaning in as if going for an intimate, friendly hug.

The moment Dolly's skin touched hers, Dorene felt like she had been bitten by a snake. Her body reacted on pure instinct. She tried to step back, but Dolly's perfectly manicured nails dug viciously into the soft flesh of Dorene's wrists, holding her in place.

Using the momentum of the fake hug, Dolly pressed her lips right next to Dorene's ear.

"Did you see the way he looked at me?" Dolly whispered. Her voice was no longer sweet; it was a venomous, grating hiss. "You are never getting him back. He's mine."

The sheer malice in those words acted like a match dropped into a pool of gasoline. The anger Dorene had been suppressing all night exploded. Her eyes narrowed into deadly slits, and she violently shoved Dolly's hands away from her body.

It was just a sharp, defensive push to free herself. The physical force was entirely directed at Dolly's wrists, not her torso.

But the second Dorene's hands broke free, Dolly let out a blood-curdling, theatrical shriek. She threw her arms up in the air and hurled her entire body backward, as if she had been shoved by a linebacker.

Dolly's back slammed brutally into a tall cocktail table positioned right behind her. The table was stacked high with a massive pyramid of crystal champagne glasses.

The impact tipped the table. The entire glass tower came crashing down.

The deafening sound of hundreds of glasses shattering against the marble floor ripped through the ballroom. The string quartet stopped playing instantly. The lively chatter died in a second. Hundreds of eyes snapped toward the bar.

Dolly collapsed onto the floor, surrounded by a sea of broken glass and spilled champagne. She curled into a tight ball, her hands clutching her lower stomach in a death grip. All the color drained from her face, and fat, heavy tears began pouring down her cheeks.

Kadyn, who had been standing a few feet away, froze in shock. When he saw Dolly writhing on the floor, his pupils dilated in absolute horror.

"Dolly!" Kadyn screamed. He sprinted forward, dropping to his knees right into the broken glass, ignoring the shards cutting into his suit pants.

He carefully gathered Dolly's shaking body into his arms, his hands hovering over her as if afraid to break her further. "Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" his voice trembled with panic.

Dolly leaned her head weakly against Kadyn's chest. She let out a pathetic, breathless sob. She looked up at Kadyn, then cast a terrified, trembling glance at Dorene. "Kadyn... my stomach... it hurts so much... our baby..."

The word baby dropped like a bomb in the silent ballroom.

A collective gasp echoed through the crowd. The whispers started immediately, loud and vicious. The eyes staring at Dorene shifted from curious to absolute, condemning hatred.

Dorene stood frozen. Her arms were still slightly raised from where she had pulled away. Her brain completely short-circuited. She stared down at the woman on the floor, unable to comprehend the flawless, evil acting she was witnessing.

Vivian was the first to snap out of it. Her face turned purple with rage. She pointed a shaking finger at Dolly. "You lying bitch! You threw yourself backward! Nobody pushed you!"

Kadyn's head snapped up. His eyes were bloodshot, burning with a violent, irrational rage. He glared at Dorene as if she were a convicted murderer. He completely ignored Vivian's shouting.

He pulled Dolly tighter against his chest and pointed a shaking finger right at Dorene's face.

"Dorene Hale!" Kadyn roared, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. "If you have a problem, you come at me! Why the hell would you hurt Dolly and an innocent child? !"

The accusation hung in the air, cementing Dorene's guilt in the eyes of everyone present. She was officially the jealous, psychotic ex-girlfriend who tried to kill a pregnant woman.

All the blood rushed out of Dorene's face. Her fingertips went ice cold. She took one step forward, her voice shaking with a mix of fury and profound betrayal. "I didn't push her, Kadyn. Are you not even going to ask me what happened?"

"Shut up!" Kadyn cut her off ruthlessly. Disgust dripped from every word he spoke. "I saw you violently shove her with my own eyes! Save your pathetic lies!"

The crowd's whispers grew louder. How vicious. No class. She belongs in jail. Every word felt like a physical blow to Dorene's ribs.

Dolly let out another agonizing moan, her fingers twisting into Kadyn's shirt collar. "Kadyn, please... don't yell at her," she cried softly. "She's just upset... she didn't mean it..."

The ultimate display of fake forgiveness. It worked perfectly. Kadyn's protective instincts flared to a dangerous level, and the crowd's hatred for Dorene peaked.

Kadyn scooped Dolly up into his arms. He glared down at Dorene with absolute zero warmth. "If anything happens to Dolly or my child, I swear to God, I will destroy the Hale family."

Dorene stared at the man she had loved for seven years. She watched him use another woman's lie to nail her to a cross without a second of hesitation. It felt like a giant, invisible hand had reached into her chest and crushed her heart into powder.

Vivian lost her mind. She lunged forward, ready to physically rip Dolly's hair out, but Dorene grabbed Vivian's arm and held her back with surprising strength.

Dorene didn't shed a single tear. She kept her spine straight, but the light in her eyes completely died.

She looked past Kadyn's furious face and locked eyes with Dolly, who was resting her head on Kadyn's shoulder.

Right in Kadyn's blind spot, Dolly's tears stopped. The corners of her mouth twitched upward into a slow, victorious, mocking smile. She looked straight into Dorene's eyes, claiming her absolute victory.

In that instant, Doreen understood everything. This wasn't an accident; she had done it on purpose. And the man she loved so deeply had willingly handed the axe to Doreen.

Hotel security rushed in. Kadyn carried Dolly away toward the VIP lounge, leaving Dorene standing alone in a sea of shattered glass and hundreds of despising eyes. She was completely, utterly isolated.

The sound of Kadyn's frantic footsteps faded down the hallway as he carried Dolly toward the VIP lounge. To Dorene, every step he took sounded like the crushing of her youth, her loyalty, and the seven years she had wasted on him.

The whispers in the ballroom grew louder, buzzing like a swarm of angry wasps. The judging stares felt like physical slaps across Dorene's face. A few socialites who had always envied her status intentionally raised their voices.

"Can't handle losing, so she resorts to murder. How pathetic."

Vivian spun around like a rabid lioness. She pointed a manicured finger at the group of whispering women. "Say one more word, and I will personally rip your fake lips off your faces!" she snarled. The women flinched and immediately looked away.

Dorene stood perfectly still in the center of the mess. Her eyes were glued to the heavy oak doors of the VIP lounge. Kadyn's bloodshot, murderous glare played on a loop in her mind.

Suddenly, a soft, dry laugh escaped her lips.

The sound was incredibly out of place in the tense room. It was hollow, broken, and carried a chilling sense of desolation.

Vivian turned back, panic flashing in her eyes. She grabbed Dorene's freezing hands. "Dorene? Hey, look at me." She tried to pull her friend out of whatever dark place her mind was sinking into.

Dorene squeezed Vivian's hands back with terrifying force. She took a deep, jagged breath, forcing the burning tears back down her throat. She refused to cry here.

She pulled her hands free, ignored the hundreds of eyes burning into her back, and walked straight to the bar. She picked up the crystal glass of whiskey she had abandoned earlier.

In front of the entire stunned crowd, Dorene raised the glass high in the air, pointing it directly toward the closed doors of the VIP lounge. It wasn't a toast. It was a funeral rite for a rotting corpse.

She tilted her head back and downed the rest of the burning liquor. The fire seared her throat, burning away the last pathetic, lingering trace of weakness she held for Kadyn Paul.

Ten minutes later, the oak doors swung open. A private doctor carrying a medical bag rushed into the lounge. The tension in the ballroom spiked again.

Shortly after, Kadyn walked out of the lounge alone. His tuxedo shirt was wrinkled. His face was a mask of dark, stormy fury. He marched straight toward Dorene.

Vivian immediately stepped in front of Dorene, acting as a human shield. She glared at Kadyn, her eyes daring him to take one more step.

Kadyn stopped two feet away. He looked at Vivian with cold exhaustion. "Move, Vivian. This is between me and her."

Dorene reached out and gently pushed Vivian's shoulder aside. She stepped out from behind her friend and looked Kadyn dead in the eye. The pain, the pleading, and the love that used to live in her gaze were completely gone. Only a dead, icy calm remained.

Kadyn felt a strange, uncomfortable prickle at the back of his neck when he saw her eyes, but his anger quickly swallowed it.

"The doctor said she's experiencing severe cramping," Kadyn stated, his voice heavy with judgment. "If I hadn't caught her in time, she would have lost the baby."

Dorene listened to his verdict. The corner of her mouth curled into a sharp, mocking sneer. "And? Are you going to call the cops and have me arrested?"

Her absolute lack of remorse pushed Kadyn over the edge. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a vicious growl. "When did you become such a cold-blooded monster? You tried to kill an unborn child!"

Dorene didn't yell back. She just stared at him like he was a clown performing a terrible trick. "Kadyn," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "You didn't even take one second to ask yourself if I actually pushed her."

Kadyn blinked, caught off guard for a fraction of a second. But he quickly waved his hand in disgust. "I trust what I saw. Dolly is too kind to ever use her own child as a weapon."

That sentence was the final nail in the coffin. Dorene finally understood. In Kadyn's mind, Dolly was the eternal victim, and Dorene was the designated villain. There was no fighting that level of blindness.

Dorene nodded slowly. Her eyes went completely blank. She took a deliberate half-step backward, putting physical distance between them, cutting him out of her space.

"You're right," Dorene said, her voice slow and crystal clear. "I am a vicious monster. So from this second forward, take your kind, pure fiancée, and get the hell out of my sight."

Kadyn froze. He hadn't expected her to sever the tie so brutally. A sudden, uncontrollable wave of panic gripped his chest, a feeling that he was losing something massive.

Before he could process the feeling, the lounge doors opened again.

Dolly stumbled out, leaning heavily on a maid. Her face was powdered white. "Kadyn..." she called out, her voice weak and trembling.

The second Kadyn heard her voice, the hesitation in his eyes vanished. He spun around and practically ran back to Dolly, wrapping his arms around her fragile shoulders.

Dorene stood in place, watching his back as he walked away without a single moment of hesitation. She watched him bend his spine to comfort another woman. The last seven years of her life felt like a disgusting, elaborate joke.

Dolly rested her head on Kadyn's chest. She looked over his shoulder, locking eyes with Dorene one last time. She shot Dorene a look of absolute, arrogant victory, claiming her prize.

Dorene didn't look away. She stared back with eyes made of ice. Every ounce of love she ever had for Kadyn died in that exact moment. All that was left was a freezing, brutal clarity.

Dolly, leaning heavily against Kadyn's side, walked slowly back into the center of the ballroom. She held a microphone handed to her by the event coordinator. She looked out at the crowd, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I want to apologize to everyone," Dolly said, her voice trembling perfectly. "What just happened was a terrible misunderstanding. Please, don't let my clumsiness ruin this beautiful night. Enjoy yourselves."

The crowd immediately erupted into polite applause and murmurs of sympathy. Her fake grace made the woman standing alone by the bar look even more like a bitter, unreasonable villain.

After handing the microphone back, Dolly didn't return to the lounge to rest. Instead, she grabbed Kadyn's hand and walked purposefully toward the bar, aiming straight for Dorene.

Vivian saw them coming. She grabbed Dorene's wrist, muttered a vicious curse under her breath, and squared her shoulders, ready for war.

Dolly stopped in front of them. She looked at Dorene with sickeningly sweet pity. "Dorene, I know you're hurting. I don't blame you for what you did. I still consider you my best friend."

Dorene stared at her, her face completely expressionless. She didn't even blink. She looked at Dolly as if she were looking at a stain on the floor.

When Dorene didn't react, Dolly turned her head toward the crowd and waved her hand. "Chuck? Could you come over here for a second?" she called out sweetly.

A man stepped out of the crowd. Chuck Vance. He was wearing a loud, patterned suit, his hair slicked back with too much gel. He was notorious in the New York social scene-a trust-fund playboy with a reputation for sleeping around and treating women like garbage.

Chuck swaggered over, holding a glass of scotch. His greasy eyes immediately locked onto Dorene's bare back and the tight fit of her red dress, roaming over her body with zero respect.

Dolly smiled and looped her arm through Chuck's. She turned back to Dorene. "Dorene, Chuck has always admired you. I think you two would be a perfect match. Maybe a new romance is exactly what you need to move on from... the past."

A few people standing nearby let out muffled snickers.

It was the ultimate insult. Offering a proud, high-society heiress to the biggest scumbag in the room was a public execution of her dignity.

Kadyn frowned. He shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable with the setup. But he glanced down at Dolly's "weak" posture and decided to keep his mouth shut.

Chuck whistled lowly. He took a step forward, reaching out a hand covered in tacky gold rings, aiming straight for Dorene's cheek. "She's right, babe. Let me show you a good time."

Before his greasy fingers could even graze Dorene's skin, Vivian snapped.

Vivian swung her heavy, studded Hermès Birkin bag like a baseball bat. The heavy metal hardware of the bag cut through the air and smashed violently into the back of Chuck's outstretched hand.

Smack!

Chuck let out a high-pitched scream of agony. He stumbled backward, clutching his rapidly swelling hand to his chest, his face twisting in pain.

The entire ballroom went dead silent. Everyone stared in shock at the sudden burst of physical violence.

Vivian stood in front of Dorene like a furious war god. She pointed a shaking finger right at Chuck's face. "Keep your filthy hands off her! A pig digging through the trash doesn't get to touch a swan!"

Chuck's face turned bright red with humiliation and rage. He raised his uninjured hand, stepping forward as if to strike Vivian. But Vivian didn't flinch. She raised the heavy bag again, her eyes burning with such psychotic fury that Chuck froze in his tracks.

Dolly let out a terrified shriek and hid behind Kadyn's back. "Vivian! Are you crazy? How can you hit someone at our engagement party? !" she cried out.

Vivian whipped her head around, locking her crosshairs on Dolly. She let out a harsh, barking laugh. "Are you playing blind, you little bitch? You drag a dog in heat over here to humiliate her, and you expect me not to beat the dog?"

The crude, brutal words ripped right through Dolly's "matchmaker" facade. Dolly's face turned a sickly shade of green.

Kadyn couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward, shielding Dolly. "Shut your mouth, Vivian!" he barked. "Stop causing a scene, or I will have security throw you out onto the street!"

Vivian stepped right up to Kadyn, tilting her head back to glare into his eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are? You're just a pathetic idiot being played by a cheap manipulator. Don't you dare bark at me."

Being called an idiot in front of the entire New York elite made the veins in Kadyn's forehead bulge. He raised his arm, his temper completely overriding his manners.

Just as the situation was about to turn into a physical brawl, Dorene finally moved.

She reached out, grabbed the back of Vivian's dress, and yanked her friend firmly behind her. Dorene stepped forward, putting herself directly in the line of fire, standing toe-to-toe with Kadyn.

Dorene's eyes were as cold as a Siberian winter. She didn't look at Dolly. She didn't look at the whimpering Chuck. She locked her gaze entirely on Kadyn.

She took one more step forward, her overwhelming presence forcing Kadyn to instinctively step back.

The silence in the room was deafening. Dorene was ready to ask the man she once loved the final question.