YOU OWN THE TITLE, I OWN THE MAN

005| ENCOUNTER THE CHEATER

~EVELYN STERLING~

They were sitting together right there in my living room, leaning into each other like the perfect pair.

Melody leaned in so close to Julian so much that their shoulders were almost plastered together. Their eyes drawn to something she was holding.

The sound of their laughter echoed in the empty space, making my chest tighten painfully.

I clenched my fists, waiting until my breathing was level, before I stepped into the light of the foyer.

Melody spotted me first. Her eyes hardened with a flash of malice before she expertly melted into a mask of fragile innocence.

“Ms. Sterling is here,” she said, her voice like glass shards as she carefully avoided calling me by Julian’s last name.

She held my gaze like a challenge as I walked closer.

But Julian’s reaction was different. He jumped in alert, moving away from Melody as though she burned him.

When his eyes flew to mine, I caught sight of a flicker of raw panic.

I tugged that away like a weapon.

“What is she doing here?” I asked coldly, my voice stern.

She blinked, Julian froze, his eyes moving from me to Melody.

“I believe I asked a question.”

Melody moved in her seat, her jaw tightly clenched.

“Ms. Sterling….”

I raised a hand to stop her mid-sentence. “It’s Mrs. Thorne to you.” I told her, my eyes holding her in a hard glance.

Her eyes widened, and I could see the rage in them. The next moment, she looked down, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

“Mrs. Th..Thorne,” she said, clenching her fists. Then she looked up at me, her eyes hard with determination. “We’ve been waiting all morning,” Melody continued, her voice dripping with fake concern. “The maids said you spent the night away from the mansion. On your wedding night, no less.”

I scoffed. She was good. She was trying to flip the script and make me the villain.

The next second, the expression on Julian’s face changed from guilt to a sudden realization that he could deflect his mistake onto me.

He stood up, his expression turning slightly stern.

“Where have you been, Eve?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

I didn’t flinch. Instead, I took a step closer to him, my gaze blank and cold. I made sure that every inch of my posture screamed dominance.

“Do you actually think you have the right to ask me that question?” I asked, my voice venomous.

Julian frowned at that, obviously stunned by my tone. “I… I was wrong to have left you alone last night. But it was an emergency. Melody was injured and I had to go care for her.” his words stumbled over each other, in a desperate attempt to make an excuse.

The corner of my lips curved into a mirthless smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

“Really?” I asked, my eyes momentarily flickering to Melody whose eyes were throwing daggers at me.

I leaned closer to Julian. “It’s only in your word I hear a boss has to spend his wedding night fending for his secretary.”

“It really was an emergency, Evelyn, and…”

“And there was no one else in this entire city to handle it but you?” I finished for him, taking another step close to him, enough to make him instinctively take a step back.

“Evelyn, it was inconvenient to find someone else, and…” he trailed off, his face falling.

I looked over to Melody again, whose face looks smug. “She seems remarkably recovered for a woman who required her boss’s presence all night.”

“You must have taken good care of her. I figured the injury must have been located between her legs, so much that you found it necessary to drown her pain by inserting your sorry self into her.” My voice turned stern.

Julian froze instantly, his face turning gray.

Even Melody’s smug mask turned into a look of pure shock.

“Wh… what are you talking about?” Julian swallowed hard.

“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” I whispered through gritted teeth. “You must have had a world of fun f*****g your secretary on our wedding night.”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Julian stammered, glancing at Melody in terror. “There is nothing going on. She just… just had an accident!”

I scoffed, waving him off.

Melody took that moment to insert herself into the conversation, her eyes welling with practiced tears.

“Ms. Ster… Mrs. Thorne, I know you don’t like me much, but you can’t just defame Mr. Thorne and I like this… Mr. Thorne has been nothing but kind to me. He knows I have no one. If my presence bothers you, I will leave, but please don’t ruin his reputation.”

She played the pity card right on cue.

Julian rushed over, stepping possessively in front of her.

“That’s enough, Evelyn! I’m the one who left. Stop taking it out on her.”

Bitterness surged through me, but I forced it down as I straightened my spine.

“Get out,” I said, my voice low and final.

They both blinked.

“What?” Julian asked with a frown.

I turned firmly to them. “You heard me. I want her out of this house right now. And she is never to enter this house again.”

Melody made a sound of protest, but fell silent the momen I glared at her.

“This is my house; you can’t just force my guest out.”

I clenched my fists. “This is our marital home. Until we get officially divorced, I have equal rights to this property. As the mistress of this house, I am banning her. If you insist you want her here, I don’t mind going to the elders and showing them evidence of your shameful deeds.”

Melody’s face twisted with a bitterness she couldn’t hide. And seeing that Julian was silent, she realized she had no choice.

“Fine,” she said, her voice hard as she stood up. “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I will leave.”

She turned to look at Julian as though expecting him to stop her, but he didn’t even look at her.

She gritted her teeth and then walked past me. But then, she stopped and took a few steps back, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air.

“Mrs. Thorne,” she whispered innocently. “Not to pry, but why is there a scent of a man’s cologne on you? It’s… quite masculine. And very expensive.”