Everyone in the room turned to look at her, and Catherine took a long sip of juice. She wanted to talk to Madison to try to figure out what had happened. It seemed safer to ask Madison about the failed escape attempt than to broach the subject with Sean, but everyone was looking at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Fine," Sean said. "Bring her in."

​​

Catherine's stomach sank—she wanted to talk to Madison in private. She couldn't have a proper conversation in front of Sean, and she couldn't ask Madison the things she most wanted to know. Even worse, Madison could try to use the situation to throw her under the bus.

The door slammed open, and she took a deep breath and turned to look. Two identical bodyguards held Madison's arms, and they half marched, half dragged her into the room. Madison's dyed auburn hair hung in limp, sweaty curls around her face, and she wore nothing but a stained and torn white slip. The guards shoved Madison onto the floor and stood behind her waiting for orders.

"Leave us alone," Sean said, his voice cold and contained.

The bodyguards, servants, and Levi rushed from the dining room, shutting the heavy wooden doors behind them. As soon as the door shut, Madison lifted her head, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. Her hazel eyes glinted and narrowed, and Catherine shuddered—she knew that look, it was the look Madison gave other women before publicly tearing them apart.

"Am I interrupting something?" Madison asked, looking at their half-finished breakfast on the table. "It looks like you two are quite cozy. Having fun playing house?"

Catherine swallowed hard and said, "Good morning, Madison."

"My god, is that you, Catherine?" Madison asked with exaggerated surprise. "I hardly recognized you in such a plain outfit." Madison looked at Sean and smiled as if she was sharing an inside joke with him, "You know usually my Catherine dresses like a whore. You should see the flashy clothes she wears and all the makeup she layers on."

Sean's jaw clenched, but he didn't say a word.

Madison smiled as if she'd won a small victory and continued, "Are you playing dress up for him, Cathy? Are you pretending to be a nice, innocent girl for him?"

Catherine ignored the taunt and gestured at the table, "Are you hungry, Madison? Perhaps you can sit down and join us."

"I'm fine," Madison said, kneeling on the floor.

Catherine studied her former friend and cousin. Madison's eyes were swollen and red, and her makeup was smudged and streaky. Her bare skin was covered in bug bites, and her red nail polish was horribly chipped. She was a mess.

"What happened to you?" Catherine asked. "Say all you want about my clothes, but this isn't a good look for you, Madi. And what's with the slip? You've always liked to be daring, but I think the underwear as outerwear looks a bit too far, don't you?"

"You're one to talk," Madison snapped.

"Well, are you going to join us or stay sitting on the floor?" Catherine asked.

Madison glared up at her, "You know my hands are tied."

"Hmm," Catherine said. "Sean, can I untie her?"

Sean nodded slightly, his expression unreadable. Catherine grabbed a paring knife from the table and walked over to Madison. She stood over her former friend and twirled the knife in her fingers, so the gleaming silver blade flashed in the morning sunlight. Madison's eyes widened, but she didn't say a word.

Catherine smiled—she was enjoying herself. After years of suffering, she finally had a chance to take her revenge on Madison. For years, she and Madison had been closer than sisters. The two of them were inseparable. When Catherine had become engaged to Sean, she'd been stubborn and miserable, but Madison had been by her side. It was Madison who came up with the escape plan and Madison who volunteered to take her place and marry Sean. At the time, she couldn't believe her luck to have such a generous cousin as a friend.

She shook her head at her own past foolishness. It should have been obvious all along that Madison was just trying to get Sean for herself. The signs had all been there, but Catherine had ignored them. She twirled the knife in her hands and waited.

"Don't play with me, bitch," Madison whispered. Then she widened her eyes and raised her voice, "Catherine, what are you doing with that knife? You're scaring me! Catherine, I'm basically your sister! I know it didn't work out, but I tried to help you! I distracted Sean and dressed up as the bride to take your place at the wedding, and this is how you repay me?"

Catherine froze and glared at Madison. She gripped the handle of the knife and sliced through the ties around Madison's wrists. The strings fell away, and Madison rubbed the red, chafed skin beneath them.

"Speaking of the wedding, what happened to the dress?" Catherine asked. "Were you so eager to throw yourself at Sean, you stripped down to your underwear?"

Madison's lip curled, and she said, "Sean said I wasn't allowed to wear it. He said it was made for you and you alone. His guards took it off me—and very roughly. It was shocking that they treated me in such a violent way."

"Oh, please—" Catherine began.

Madison interrupted, her voice sweet and wheedling, "Please, Cathy, talk to Sean for me. Tell him I didn't mean to insult him by wearing that lovely dress. I only did it for you. I only did it to buy you and Marco some time to escape."

Catherine fought the urge to look over her shoulder at Sean. Though she desperately wanted to see his expression, she was terrified of his anger. As always, Madison was playing the innocent victim, and Catherine didn't know how she'd escape from the blame. She took a deep breath as her mind raced for a solution. How could she implicate Madison without making Sean angrier?

She sighed dramatically, "I want to believe you, Madison, I really do. But I've been thinking, and somehow this doesn't add up. Do you remember the day the wedding dress arrived?"

Madison nodded, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Well, remember how I was too nervous to look at it," Catherine continued. "The wedding was coming up so soon, and it was such a big change for me—the dress made it all so real."

"Yes," Madison said. "You were definitely dreading the wedding."

Catherine cleared her throat, "Well, you were going on and on about how gorgeous the dress was. I remember you read the piece of paper that came with it, explaining the number of diamonds sewn into the skirt and how it was all made by hand and custom-designed. You sounded so jealous, I was actually curious and looked."

"Anyway, I remember you offered to model it for me," Catherine continued. "I thought it was weird because we're slightly different sizes, and the dress was obviously made with my exact measurements, but you insisted. When you put it on, you got the weirdest look in your eye. I should have known then that it was jealousy, but I believed you had my best interests at heart."

"Wait a minute," Madison began.

Catherine cut her off, "You betrayed me. After all, we went through together, you betrayed me."

"Oh, shut up," Madison shrieked. "You're twisting the story around to suit you. You were in love with Marco! That's why you didn't want to marry Sean. You were upset when you saw the dress because it meant you had to end things with Marco. You begged me to help you."

"I don't love Marco," Catherine said.

"Wow," Madison said. "You're a much older woman than I thought. Who knows what miserable torture he's suffering now while you have your cute little breakfast."

"I'll admit I thought Marco was charming," she said. "But now I see that you pushed us together. You were the one to suggest elope with him. You figured out the escape routes, the tickets, everything. I was so foolish, I thought it was my idea. I thought you were just a good friend, but you were manipulating me."

Catherine stopped and put her hands over her mouth as if she'd said too much. She glanced over her shoulder at Sean, pretending she'd forgotten he was in the room. She turned back to Madison and winked, proud of how well she had just handled the situation.

In silence, the two women waited to see what Sean would say. Though Catherine was pleased with the way she'd handled the situation, her heart hammered in her chest. What if Sean saw through her act? What if he didn't believe her? In Catherine's last life, Madison's role had been exposed, but Sean had let her go unpunished. She was terrified Sean would make the same mistake again.

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Dearest Lovies,

It's mass release day! As I promised earlier, I will try my best to often give a mass release every Friday to accumulate the privileged purchase benefit. Hopefully, you enjoy the new story and tell me your thoughts about this new story!

Keep on voting and help me reach to top ten ranks. Keep on commenting and reviewing if you have time. Thank you also for all the generous gifts you guys given to this novel.

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Love lots,

Anna Shannel Lin