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.

Dorene stood less than two feet away from Kadyn. The physical distance was close, but the emotional chasm between them was infinite. She could clearly see the messy swirl of anger, embarrassment, and a cowardly urge to look away flashing in his eyes.

The surrounding guests held their breath. Even Chuck stopped groaning and clamped his mouth shut. The air in the ballroom felt thick, heavy, and suffocating.

Dorene completely ignored the trembling woman hiding behind Kadyn's back. Her perfectly lined eyes stayed locked onto Kadyn's face. Her voice was terrifyingly calm, devoid of any tremor or heat.

She tilted her chin up just a fraction. "Kadyn. I am only going to ask you one question. Look me in the eye and answer it."

Kadyn's instinct was to look at the floor, but the sheer, crushing weight of her stare pinned him in place. He was forced to meet her dead, icy eyes.

Dorene slowly raised her hand and pointed a single finger at Chuck, who was cowering a few feet away. Her voice carried a faint, heartbreaking trace of desperation. "Do you honestly believe I belong with a piece of trash like him?"

The question hit Kadyn like a sledgehammer to the ribs. He knew exactly what Chuck Vance was. He knew that associating Dorene's name with a man like that was the ultimate degradation.

Kadyn opened his mouth. His conscience screamed at him to say no, to defend the woman who had stood by him for seven years. But right before the word left his throat, he felt a soft, desperate tug on the back of his suit jacket.

Dolly let out a microscopic, pathetic sniffle. "Kadyn," she whispered, her voice barely audible but perfectly timed. "I just wanted her to find someone so she stops trying to ruin us..."

That single, venomous whisper triggered the hero complex hardwired into Kadyn's brain. He remembered Dolly bleeding on the floor just minutes ago. He remembered he had to protect his fragile, pregnant fiancée from this aggressive woman standing in front of him.

To prove his loyalty to Dolly, Kadyn crushed his guilt. His eyes hardened into cold stones.

He looked Dorene straight in the face and delivered the killing blow. "Dolly is just trying to help. Since he likes you, why don't you give him a chance? Give it a shot."

Give it a shot.

Those four words were like a rusty, serrated blade plunging directly into Dorene's heart and twisting violently.

Dorene's pupils contracted to pinpricks. The ambient noise of the ballroom vanished entirely. All she could see was Kadyn's cold, indifferent face magnifying in her vision.

She had imagined a hundred different ways they might finally end. She never imagined he would personally hand her over to a predator just to score points with his new lover.

Behind her, Vivian gasped loudly. "You are a sick, twisted bastard," Vivian hissed, stepping forward to slap him.

But Dorene stood frozen like a marble statue. She bit down on her lower lip so hard the metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. She forced her tear ducts to stay dry. She would not bleed for him. Not here.

She stared at Kadyn for ten agonizing seconds, burning the image of his pathetic, cowardly face into her brain so she would never, ever forget it.

And then, Dorene laughed.

It wasn't a hysterical laugh. It was a bright, stunningly beautiful smile that dripped with absolute, crushing mockery and profound sorrow.

The smile sent a violent shiver down Kadyn's spine. He instinctively took a half-step back. The woman standing in front of him suddenly felt like a complete stranger, someone entirely out of his league.

Dorene let the smile drop. The last flickering ember of warmth in her eyes died completely, leaving behind a barren, scorched wasteland.

She nodded slowly. Her voice was as light as a feather, but every word was a lethal injection. "Okay. Good. Kadyn Paul, you really showed me what true garbage looks like today."

She didn't just insult Chuck. She took Kadyn and Dolly's dignity and ground it into the marble floor with her stiletto.

Kadyn's face turned a sickly shade of gray. He opened his mouth to shout back, but he found his throat completely paralyzed. Standing in front of the woman he had just mentally destroyed, he couldn't form a single word.

Dolly tried to salvage the moment. She stepped out from behind Kadyn, her eyes wide. "Dorene, please-"

Dorene shot her a look so violently cold that Dolly physically recoiled, snapping her mouth shut.

Dorene didn't waste another breath on them. She turned around gracefully, facing Vivian. She reached out and gently adjusted the collar of Vivian's dress, which had gotten twisted during the fight. Her demeanor returned to the flawless, untouchable elegance of a true heiress.

"Let's go, Vivian," Dorene said calmly. "The air in here is toxic. It's making me sick."

Without looking back at the crowd, the groom, or the bride, Dorene straightened her spine. She looked like a queen leaving a conquered territory, not a woman who had just lost everything.

She walked toward the grand exit, her heels clicking sharply against the floor, leaving Kadyn staring at her retreating back.