“Then why didn’t you draw it yourself?”
“Brother Ace, you know I don’t get anything about art. Those paintings were all traced by someone I hired…”
“If that bitch Everly hadn’t drawn this piece, how else was I supposed to step on her to climb up?”
Faye’s face drained of color in an instant. Her shriek cut through the silence as she turned to the staff. “Take that down! Turn it off, now!” But this wasn’t just any ceremony. In her quest to sculpt a goddess–like image, Faye had invited half the media industry. And now those reporters, like bloodthirsty sharks, smelled a fresh scandal.
“No. No, it’s not what it looks like!”
Her voice cracked in panic. “It’s slander! That recording is fake! It’s been doctored!“}]
Her face twisted with rage, red blotches blooming across her pale skin. She spun toward me, eyes wild.
“It was you, wasn’t it? Everly, it was you!”
Faye lunged, claws out, madness in her gaze. “Say something! It was you, right?!“}
She lunged at me, eyes wild and bloodshot, fingers curled like claws.
“Everly, say something! It was you, wasn’t it?!“}
I smiled calmly. “No. It was Ace, your fairy–tale prince.“>
Faye snapped. Screaming like a madwoman, she grabbed for my neck. “You bitch! I’ll kill you!“}
Before her hands could reach me, Ace shoved her to the ground.
He stepped in front of me, tall and cold, his gaze like ice.
“Have you lost your mind?“}
Faye clutched her bleeding forehead, stunned and trembling.
“Why…?”
“You did this to yourself,” Ace replied flatly.
All color drained from her face. She looked like a porcelain doll with its paint washed away.
Reporters swarmed instantly, cameras flashing, microphones thrust forward. Online, the live chat exploded.§
“So Faye’s the plagiarist! And she was the side chick all along? Gross!“}
“Truth finally out. Knew Everly wasn’t the type. How shameless can someone be?“}
Amid the chaos, I stepped onto the stage and declared, “May original creation always shine bright and glorious!”
In the crowd, Ace trembled as he fumbled for a ring in his pocket. “Everly, I-”
But before he could finish, a sharp, searing pain stabbed through his back.
He spun around to see Faye driving a knife deep into his spine, her eyes burning with hatred, blood–red with fury.} “Ace, go to hell!”
She punged the blade again and again in a frantic frenzy, blood gushing everywhere as screams tore through the venue.
By the time the police burst in and restrained her, Ace lay in a crimson pool, his strength fading. With his last breath, he grasped the hem of my dress, “Everly… can you forgive me?“>
I froze, then whispered, “Thank you.”
Thank you, Ace, for the recording. For playing it when it mattered most.
Because on my own, I never could have turned the tide.
But, “I can’t forgive you.”
Upon hearing that, Ace coughed up a mouthful of blood as the doctors fought desperately to save him,
“It’s over. The patient has no heartbeat!”
At Ace’s funeral, his personal assistant handed me a document.
“Ace always felt deeply sorry for your miscarriage. He had already written his will, leaving all his assets to you.“} “Now that he has passed, it’s time I hand these over to you.”
As I stepped outside, a swarm of reporters thrust microphones toward me.
In front of the cameras, I gently wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.
“I’m deeply saddened by my ex–husband’s death…“@
Praise poured in for my devotion, how, despite his betrayals and heartbreaks, I still loved him.
But away from the cameras, a faint, knowing smile curved the corners of my lips.
There had never been a knife at the award ceremony. That knife had fallen out only when Faye was choking me.
I went to the restaurant where Ace and I used to eat and sat in the same spot we always claimed.§
Back then, Ace had said, “Everly, since you love this place so much, let’s keep coming here even when we’re old, walking with canes, okay?”
But later, he grew tired of this restaurant.
12:09 AM
But later, he grew tired of this restaurant.
And tired of me.
I lowered my gaze. The rising steam from the bowl warmed my eyes.
From chaos, balance was born; from love’s extremes, hatred was forged.
Ace, I truly did thank you, for lifting my career to new heights, and for leaving me all of your fortune.M
