Chapter 2

Faced with these aggressive strangers, I panicked.

The nanny Frank hired to take care of me was so terrified she shrank behind my back.

I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Mrs. Byres, we don't know each other. What is the meaning of this?"

The elegant woman from yesterday was gone. Today, her eyes were filled with pure disgust.

She sneered, and one of her guards stepped forward, pointing at my face.

"You shameless bitch, you have the nerve to ask?"

"Our gracious Mrs. Byres is here to take you to the estate so you can have your baby there."

I didn't understand what she meant. I refused politely.

"Thank you, but we are strangers. I cannot accept your invitation."

"Besides, I'm heavily pregnant and it's not safe for me to move. Please leave."

The moment the words left my mouth, the guard slapped me across the face.

Smack!

"You trashy little mistress!" the guard spat.

"Using your pregnancy to guilt-trip us? Are you trying to make Mrs. Byres look bad?"

"Mrs. Byres is the only legal wife of the Byres family. Your kid is just a bastard. Don't think you can compete with her."

I stumbled back, clutching my burning cheek. The nanny caught me before I hit the floor.

Nyla Adler smiled mockingly at my misery.

She walked over slowly, tilting my chin up with her manicured finger. "How pathetic. Frank hasn't told you the truth, has he?"

"Let me tell you. I am Frank's real wife."

She told me Frank was the sole heir of the billionaire Byres empire.

And she was Nyla, the youngest daughter of the powerful Adler family.

Their families had arranged their marriage when they were kids.

They were a match made in heaven.

Nyla spoke so casually, but my heart sank into a dark abyss.

Suddenly, all of Frank's weird behavior made sense.

But no matter what, I couldn't go with her.

I, Audrey, had my pride.

If Frank really lied to me, I would rather get an abortion and run away again than stay and be humiliated as a rich man's plaything.

I yelled, "I don't believe you! I want to ask him myself!"

"If you're his real wife, why are you afraid of letting me talk to him?"

Nyla's face tightened.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she barked, "Tie her up and throw her in the car! Now!"

Seeing the guards close in, I screamed at the neighbors who were watching from the hallway.

"Help me! Please! I don't know these people!"

"Call the police! Or call Frank! Please!"

But the neighbors who usually smiled and helped me carry groceries now just watched with cold, mocking eyes.

They gossiped in hushed, disgusted tones.

"I knew she was too pretty to be decent. Turns out she's just a rich man's side chick."

"And here I was, helping her with her trash because she's pregnant. How disgusting."

"Mrs. Byres is too nice. If I were her, I'd have beaten this homewrecker to death already."

The guards slammed me onto the floor, pinning my arms behind my back.

Hearing the neighbors' cruel words, a wave of intense shame washed over me.

I screamed desperately at them, "You all saw us! We had a small wedding in the backyard! You were there!"

"Frank is an orphan! How could he be some billionaire heir?"

But nobody listened.

"Please! What kind of real wedding has no guests and no priest?"

"We all knew Frank looked too noble to be a regular guy."

"You lived with him and never noticed? You were just a kept woman, sweetie. Stop lying to yourself."

My body went cold. Every sweet memory of Frank turned into a mockery.

Was everything a lie?

In my despair, I saw a familiar figure walking down the street below.

It was Beasley, Frank's colleague.

He had been to our apartment for drinks. He could prove my innocence!