Chapter 76

The mob pressed forward, faces twisted with malice, their voices rising in unison like a rehearsed chant demanding Yvonne's exile from the company.

She backed away instinctively until her shoulders bumped against a corner piled high with abandoned props and clutter-no room left to retreat.

"I'm not a home-wrecker..." Her protest barely escaped her lips before the roar of jeers smothered it, her words swallowed whole by the frenzy.

At the edge of the crowd, Rita lingered like a queen surveying her stage. Arms folded across her chest, she wore a triumphant smirk, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

Standing off to the side, Rita drank in every detail-Yvonne's face ashen, a thin line of blood sliding from the cut at her brow, her figure pressed against the wall like prey cornered by predators.

The sight was pitiful, almost humiliating, and it thrilled Rita beyond measure.

At first, she had fretted over how to gloat-how to remind Yvonne that not only had she evaded consequence but had strutted right back into the spotlight, resuming her work without pause.

Fate had spared her the trouble. Yvonne, battered and defenseless, had stumbled straight into her humiliation.

When Rita had reappeared on set, whispers of doubt shadowed her presence. Yet once Julian's bodyguards stationed themselves around her like an impenetrable wall, the crew no longer questioned her position.In their eyes, she had secured the role of his legitimate wife.

This round belonged to her.

After basking in the spectacle long enough, she finally stepped forward, slipping into the guise of a merciful savior. With false tenderness, she said, "Don't hold it against Yvonne. I've already let it go..." "You're too generous, Rita! That rotten slut ought to be condemned to hell!"

"That's right! Shame on that damn homewrecker!"

As the insults piled up, no one noticed the flicker of unease on Rita's face when the word"homewrecker"was spat with such malice.

Then came Yvonne's laugh-low, jagged, and mocking-slicing through the air like broken glass. She fixed her gaze on Rita, her blood-streaked face ghastly beneath the trickle that blurred her vision, making her look terrifyingly unbroken.

Yvonne swayed on her feet but still advanced, closing the distance between herself and Rita with two unsteady steps.

"The real shame is the woman who knowingly steals someone else's place. Rita, why don't you enlighten everyone here-who's the true homewrecker?" she spat, her lips curling into a bitter sneer.

A shadow of fear flickered across Rita's expression before she instinctively recoiled, her heel scraping against the floor as she stepped back.

Before Yvonne could press her point, a hard shove sent her stumbling backward.

"What do you think you're doing?!" a voice shouted, thick with accusation. "Trying to attack Rita now?Everyone knows you're the mistress! Don't fool yourself-screwing around with Mr. Powell won't raise your damn status. He only gives a damn about Rita!"

The speaker jabbed a finger toward the suited men looming behind Rita. "Look at them! Those bodyguards were assigned by Mr. Powell himself to protect her-because of people like you!"

As heads around her nodded in agreement, Rita regained her composure, slipping back into a soft, pitiable demeanor. "Yvonne, I know it's hard for you to accept, but Jules doesn't belong to you. Please stop clinging to him,alright?"

Her shameless performance made Yvonne's chest burn with anger, yet beneath it throbbed a raw ache.

The bodyguards standing behind Rita were unmistakably from the Powell family. Considering the hell Rita had dragged her into, it made no sense that Julían gave Rita bodyguards.

The irony twisted so sharply that Yvonne actually laughed out loud.

Every sneer from the crowd suddenly rang true--Julian only cared about Rita. The fleeting happiness she had tasted these past few days hnad been nothing more than Julian's carefully spun illusion. And she had been foolish enough to believe it, to imagine-just for a moment-that he might have cared for her, even a little.

Reality had slammed her back into clarity with merciless intensity.

In Julian's world, she was nothing more than a gullible fool, easy to placate and easier to deceive.

Yvonne shut her eyes, the sting of blood seeping into them at last making itself felt. She forced her tears back,steadying her breath.

"I've never wanted to steal from anyone," she said, voice trembling with restraint."A∥I want is to take back what belongs to me and walk away."

That was all she had asked for from the start-her own things returned. Yet they clung to her, dragging open old scars, forcing her humiliation again and again.

Out of nowhere, a bag hit the floor at her feet, the impact scattering its contents. A laptop skidded out,its screen shattered into a spiderweb of glass.

Callum's smug voice rang out, sharp and mocking. "Take it and get the hell out of here!"

Yvonne's vision flared red with fury. She shot him a glare that cut like a blade.

The very next second, a fist slammed across Callum's face with brutal force.