System Countdown to Betrayal Chapter 2

By the time the bridal shop descended into total chaos, Declan arrived.

He was my senior in college and the co-founder of the charitable trust my late mother left behind.

Every single grant application Wendy submitted over the past four years had crossed his desk.

The moment he walked in, his eyes darted to Wendy first. Only after making sure she was okay did he frown and look at me. "Audrey, what exactly are you trying to pull here?"

I stared at him.

"You knew too. Didn't you?"

He dodged the question, his voice taking on that familiar, patronizingly soft tone.

"Wendy just wants a place to belong."

"Don't back her into a corner."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I'm backing her into a corner?"

"I used my dead mother's money to put her through college. I paid her hospital bills. I paid her rent. I pulled strings to get her internships. And now you're telling me I'm the one ruining her life?"

Declan sighed heavily, giving me the kind of look reserved for a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

"She comes from a broken home. She grew up with nothing."

"You have the world at your fingertips. She has absolutely nothing."

"Since you're the one who brought her up to this point, you should be the bigger person and show some grace."

Right on cue, Wendy drifted over, her eyes red and puffy.

"Audrey, if you're mad, take it out on me. Please don't blame Richard."

"I was the one who fell for him first. It's all my fault."

Her voice was frail and dripping with guilt. But the silver leaf pendant resting against her collarbone caught the light, and the sight of it made my eyes burn.

That necklace was my mother's heirloom.

Three years ago, Wendy was hospitalized. She cried through the night, terrified of the dark. I personally fastened that necklace around her neck, telling her it would keep her safe.

Looking at it now, I realized my kindness was just a joke.

I reached out, hooked my fingers around the delicate chain, and ripped it off her neck.

She let out a sharp cry of pain, bursting into tears as she scrambled backward.

The next second, Richard stepped in and shoved me hard.

I stumbled in my heavy gown. My waist slammed violently into the edge of the display podium. A sharp, cramping pain shot through my lower abdomen instantly.

He completely ignored me, shielding Wendy behind him as his voice turned to ice.

"That is enough, Audrey."

I looked up at him, suddenly finding the whole situation incredibly absurd.

We had fought before over the past decade.

But he had never laid a hand on me. He had never pushed me away in front of an audience.

And now, to play the knight in shining armor for a girl I practically raised, he didn't even care about the baby growing inside me.

I took a shaky breath, shifting my gaze to Declan.

"That phone call last night. Telling me to go to the club to pick up the girls. You set that up on purpose, didn't you?"

Declan's eyes flickered away.

"You were going to find out eventually."

Then it hit me.

It wasn't just Richard and Wendy.

Even Declan, my trusted friend, was busy paving the way for her.

Richard's phone buzzed. He checked the screen and then shoved it directly in my face.

Someone had already leaked photos from the bridal boutique to a gossip blog.

The angles were perfectly cropped. You could only see Wendy looking innocent, holding the shoes with teary eyes, and me looking like a monster, aggressively ripping the necklace off her throat.

The comments were already flooding in, tearing me apart for bullying a sweet girl.

Richard's face was thunderous.

"Did you hire someone to post this?"

Looking at that photo, a strange, chilling calm washed over me.

"No."

"But isn't she the other woman?"

Richard ground his teeth, his voice dropping low with suppressed rage.

"She never wanted to compete with you."

"Are you really so bitter that you have to destroy her life?"

Declan chimed in, playing the voice of reason.

"Audrey, if this blows up, it's going to ruin Wendy's graduation and drag the foundation's name through the mud."

"You need to go to her commencement ceremony and clear the air publicly."

Richard followed up with a final demand, tossing it out like a generous favor.

"As long as we get past this graduation drama, our wedding goes ahead as planned."

My chest felt hollow, packed with shattered glass.

One betrayed me. One fiercely protected her. One did her dirty work to clean up the mess.

And right now, all three of them were demanding that I be the one to swallow my pride and step back.

Just then, my phone chimed with a private message from Wendy.

[Audrey, Richard was so worried I'd get scared hearing your voice last night. He held me on his lap the entire time.]

[I was shivering so much, so he kissed me. He kissed me for a really long time.]

I stared at those two lines of text. Bile rose in my throat.

The System's voice echoed simultaneously.

[Host's will to survive is plummeting rapidly.]

[Termination countdown halved.]

[Remaining time: 24 hours.]

I slowly raised my head and looked at the two men standing before me.

"Fine."

"I'll go to the ceremony."