I leaned back in my chair, the weight of everything pressing down on me, my mind still clouded by the echoes of that damn night. The memory of Victoria standing there, smug as ever, etched itself into my brain like a brand that refused to fade; I could hardly believe she’d come back, let alone found her way into Ariana’s life. It was calculated, planned down to the smallest detail, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d known exactly what she was doing, that she’d been savoring every second of the discord she’d sown.
Ben stared at me, clearly caught off guard, his usual lightheartedness nowhere in sight as he took in my expression. “Victoria... You’re telling me that Victoria just showed up at your wife’s birthday?” he asked, his tone laced with a mixture of shock and the beginning e
