He Cheated With My Enemy, I Ruin Him

Chapter 4

Over the next two days, Landon paraded Fiona through charity galas and business events.

He even transferred his most prestigious racing club into Fiona's name, announcing to all of Crestport, without an ounce of shame, that he had a new favorite.

Rumors erupted overnight. "Natalie Mercer's position is crumbling." "A new Mrs. Hale is on the horizon." The gossip became the talk of the entire city.

Everyone was placing bets on when the marriage that had once been the envy of Crestport would finally collapse.

Just as the speculation reached its peak, Fiona's birthday arrived.

Landon spared no expense. He gifted her a superyacht worth nearly a billion dollars, christened the Fiona. That evening, he arranged a massive fireworks display that lit up the entire Crestport Bay.

But the gift that set every tabloid ablaze was a pair of elephants—because, as Landon told the cameras, "Elephants mate for life."

Every headline hinted that the new golden couple was headed for the altar.

When the gala began, the two of them made a stunning entrance in matching designer gowns and suits. Under the shifting lights, Landon's sculpted, aristocratic face drew the gaze of every woman in the room.

Meanwhile, in the garden outside the banquet hall, Natalie stood alone in a black gown, watching it all with cold eyes.

Two bodyguards trailed her at a measured distance—"protection," they called it.

She'd come tonight because Landon wanted to maintain Fiona's reputation.

But she had plans of her own.

"Thank you for gracing my birthday with your presence." Fiona approached with measured steps, chin tilted up, triumph written across her face. "I'm just curious. What gift did you bring me?"

Natalie swirled her wine glass, her smile nowhere near her eyes. "You're the spitting image of your mother, every bit the mistress. Tell me, which law says I owe you a gift?"

Her gaze swept over the jewels dripping from Fiona's neck and wrists. "Though if we're keeping score, half of everything you're wearing belongs to me."

Fiona's face went white, then flushed. A moment later, she seemed to remember something. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with practiced elegance, deliberately exposing the pearl earring on her lobe and the clear bite mark just below it.

Landon's little habit, when desire got the better of him.

"Look." Fiona tilted her head, letting the earring catch the light. "Landon said these suit me perfectly. Don't you think so?"

Natalie's gaze turned to ice.

Those were her mother Catherine's earrings. The last thing she had left behind. And Landon had given them to Fiona.

Before Natalie could move, something vicious flickered in Fiona's eyes. She yanked one earring out herself.

Blood beaded instantly, dripping down her pale shoulder. She cried out, her voice pitiful and broken. "My ear! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wear your mother's things..."

Every head in the room turned.

Across the hall, Landon spotted the commotion and was already striding over, his long legs eating up the distance. The tenderness and fury in his eyes were barely contained.

That fury was aimed squarely at Natalie.

Natalie let out a bitter laugh.

Before Landon could reach them, she spun around and snatched the ear-piercing gun from the tray a bodyguard was holding behind her.

"This is exactly how your mother framed mine, isn't it?" Natalie's eyes locked onto Fiona's. "Too bad for you—I'm not someone who takes it lying down."

Her gaze sharpened to a blade. "You like stealing earrings? You want a gift? Then here, seven piercings, one for each day of the week, so you can wear new jewelry every single day. How's that for generous?"

Seven soft clicks. Seven studs punched into Fiona's ear in rapid succession. Blood streamed down the curve of her earlobe.

Fiona's scream hadn't even died out when a dagger sliced through the air and buried itself in Natalie's wrist.

She recognized the leather-wrapped handle. The character for Nat was carved into it—her name, in his handwriting.

The searing pain in her wrist drove straight to her heart, drowning out Fiona's shrieking until it sounded like it came from underwater.

She looked up and met Landon's face, drained of all color.

Natalie's lips twitched into something that might have been a smile.

So the man who once shielded her with his own body could now turn a blade on her—for someone else.

Landon rushed forward. He pulled the sobbing Fiona into his arms first, then turned to Natalie, his brow knotted. "You went too far, Nat. Apologize to Fiona, and I'll take you to the hospital."

Natalie laughed through the pain. "Or what? You'll punish me the way my father used to punish my mother? Discipline me with the family rules? Or lock me up the way your father locked up your mother?"

She advanced on him, step by step, her eyes boring into his, her voice tearing from her throat. "Why?"

Why did you change?

Why are all of you the same, blind and stupid, throwing away the woman who'd die for you just to protect some snake in a pretty dress?

For a moment, she saw her mother's face. That bottomless despair.

Mid-stride, she ripped the dagger from her own wrist.

Blood sprayed upward, catching in her eyes like the tears she'd never been able to cry.

While he stood frozen, she lunged forward and drove the dagger into Landon's left shoulder.

Then she unclipped the micro-camera from her brooch, slipped it into his jacket pocket, and seized his collar with a blood-soaked fist, her teeth clenched. "Take a good look, Landon Hale. You owe me this."

The words left her, and so did her strength. She collapsed.

As consciousness slipped away, she heard Fiona's shrill cursing from somewhere far above. "Natalie Mercer! You butcher! You devil! You psycho..."

A faint laugh escaped her lips.

So fighting back when you've been wronged makes you a psycho.

If that's what it meant, she wished her mother had been one too.

The ground beneath her seemed to tremble. Screams erupted all around, but Natalie couldn't hear any of it anymore. She sank into darkness.