Cheating in My Car? Let Them Roast! Chapter 1

The party was in full swing when my fiancé, Griffin, disappeared.

I was about to go look for him when a stream of comments flashed before my eyes:

【Why is the villainess by the car all of a sudden? Our sweet heroine is still connected with the leading man!】

【I love that the villainess's new car is about to become the love nest where the hero and heroine first taste the forbidden fruit.】

【Hehe~ Serves her right for trying to take the heroine's place. Let her burn with rage!】

Our mutual friends quickly moved to stop me.

“Griffin said he went to buy you a gift. He told you to go back inside and wait.”

【These friends are the real MVPs, covering for our favorite couple.】

【Our tall, handsome hero belongs to our girl Izzy! If I were there, I’d help them lie to the evil villainess too.】

【Damn, our boy Griffin is intense. He slammed her against the hood to kiss her and broke the bumper.】

I glanced up at the blistering midsummer sun.

Then at my car, baking in the heat with the A/C off.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my insurance company.

“Hello, my bumper’s been hit. I need an agent here within the hour. I’ll be waiting by the car.”

【?! No! An hour? They’ll bake to death in there!】

* * *

The friends of Griffin and Isabelle frowned. “Aria, you’re going to wait out here for an hour?” one of them, Landon, asked.

“It’s a hundred degrees out. You’ll get sunstroke. Just wait inside, we’ll let you know when the insurance agent gets here.”

“No can do,” I said, shaking my head. “I look away for a second and my bumper gets smashed. What if I go inside and they do it again? This is a brand new car!”

I turned and called out to the owner of the seaside restaurant.

“Excuse me! Could you bring out a few large fans and a patio umbrella? And maybe twenty ice-cold watermelons? Oh, and bring out that big ice cream freezer too. We can enjoy the ocean view out here!”

【?? What’s with this sudden urge to watch the ocean? She’s out here chilling while our hero and heroine are going to die of heatstroke in that car!】

【This is bad. The A/C isn’t on. If they turn it on now, with everyone gathered here, they’ll be exposed!】

【I’m so stressed! It’s a hundred degrees outside, which means it could get up to one-thirty, one-forty inside that car! Can’t this evil witch just drop dead? All she does is cause trouble!】

“Aria Collins.”

Landon, the de facto leader of Griffin and Isabelle’s friend group, stepped in front of me.

“None of us are interested in watching the ocean. If you’re not coming inside, you can stay out here by yourself.”

He gestured for the others to follow him. They all shot me a look of pure contempt, scoffed, and started walking back toward the restaurant.

【Yes! I love how they just turned their backs on her!】

【Landon’s got her number. The way Aria sucks up to them, she’ll be running back to apologize the second they leave.】

【This will give our favorite couple the chance to sneak out!】

My fists clenched at my sides.

It was true. I was a suck-up. I did everything I could to get Griffin and Isabelle’s friends to like me.

They were the ones who had grown up with Griffin and Isabelle. They were the tight-knit circle.

I was the outsider, the latecomer.

But we were engaged when we were five years old!

【Can the evil villainess just die already? So what if her parents were swept away by a flood saving our five-year-old hero?】

【It was an honor for her parents to save him. Not every NPC gets that kind of storyline, okay?】

【Besides, she’s the villain. The only reason the hero’s father felt guilty enough to set up the engagement was because her parents died. Does she really think she’s worthy of him?】

【She hit the jackpot and still acts like the world owes her. Ugh.】

【Don’t worry, guys. The villainess will keep tormenting our heroine and die a horrible death in the end! Just keep watching!】

The mention of my parents sent a shard of ice through my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the pain down.

When I was five, I didn’t know Griffin already had a childhood sweetheart.

It wasn't until after we got engaged in college that I realized he and Isabelle shared a whole life, a circle of friends, weekly parties, and yearly vacations that I was never a part of.

I tried so hard to break into that circle.

But whenever I showed up, the atmosphere would instantly freeze over. I’d bring them expensive gifts, and they’d offer a dismissive “thanks” before tossing them aside, never even bothering to take them home. I’d offer to pay for everyone to go on a trip, but Griffin and Isabelle would always be the ones to choose the destination.

Just like this seaside barbecue.

My eyes, burning with unshed tears, fixed on my new car.

The comments said I would die a horrible death?

Fine. Let’s see who dies first.

“What are you still doing out here?” Landon snapped, his brow furrowed in disapproval. “Are you really going to sit here all day?”