“They truly love each other. They have for ten years. If you hadn’t got in between them, they wouldn’t have broken up. Now that they have finally gathered up their courage to give it another try, you wouldn’t be so heartless to separate them from each other again, would you?”
Tears started streaming down my sister’s face as she whimpered, looking pitiful. Even though I was the victim of being slapped just a second ago, Yvette had managed to make me look like the villain of this story.
“So she’s the true mistress. And here I was about to offer her my sympathy. Sure ain’t worth it,” mocked Crystal.
“Damn right it isn’t. Lyle and Crystal have been in love with each other for ten years. She was the one who forced herself between them and caused their separation. Women like her deserve to get beaten up.”
Unfortunately, it just so happened that Wendy had emerged from the restroom and heard the last line. Upon seeing Crystal’s messy state, Wendy stormed forward and slapped me twice without a second thought. “I knew you had ulterior motives, Yvonne! What did Crystal do to deserve this?”
Murmurs started to rise around us, just like what had happened in the banquet last time. Even though I was not in the wrong, I was still the one being accused at the end of the day, abandoned by all with no one by my side. Despite all that had happened, I kept my gaze firmly on Lyle.
Even after hearing them calling me the mistress, he had not once spoken up on my behalf. I closed my eyes before taking a deep breath. “Lyle Smith, do you also see me as the homewrecker that got in the way of your future with Crystal?”
“Can you stop being unreasonable? You shouldn’t have hurt Crystal,” he responded with a voice as cold as ice.
“I’m unreasonable?” My eyes flew wide open in shock. “Lyle Smith, you were the one who never believed me. When you were hooking up with some other woman behind my back, did the fact that I am your wife ever cross your mind?” Exhaustion filled my eyes as I looked at Lyle, my gaze hard. To my surprise, my eyes were not welling up; perhaps I was too disappointed to even have any energy to cry over him.
“You cheated on me with Christopher too! If I hadn’t seen you two myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
“Huh, I thought I heard my name.” A familiar sound called out from behind me. The next second, I was pulled to the side by Sabrina while two figures stood in front of me. The pounding in my heart slowed down as a wave of calmness washed over me. I was not alone.
Christopher placed his hands in his pockets. He glanced at me coolly before turning his eyes toward Lyle, eyeing him up and down. “Argued again, Lyle?” asked Christopher in a neutral manner. “The one in your arms right now seems to be your ex-girlfriend whom you’ve broken up with two years ago. Well, that’s not very appropriate, is it?”
“Keep your nose out of our business, Christopher! Don’t think for a second that no one will find out about you and Yvonne, no matter how flawless you think your secret is.” Lyle’s eyes burned in anger as he gritted his teeth as if he had seen his arch-nemesis.
“Oh, Eve and I? You were the one who introduced us to each other. She has always followed you to every gathering, after all. Are you pointing fingers at us right now because we have started to grow close? That’s one heavy accusation, don’t you think? Or must you make yourself a victim when you were the one who cheated? That’s a bit unfair, Lyle.”
Christopher spoke in a serious manner, shaking his head occasionally as he did. After hearing what he had said, my anger dissipated. The man sure was brilliant, being able to untwist the story of me being the mistress in just a few sentences. Even Lyle was rendered speechless. I, on the other hand, only knew how to yell at my opponents with no true content.
“Are you okay?” Sabrina whispered into my ear, and I shook my head in response. Besides, I had only been slapped; it was nothing I hadn’t experienced before.
“Christopher… You…” Lyle’s face had turned red in rage by then. After all, he had no solid proof of me cheating with Christopher, while I had caught him in action with another woman.
“Next time, pal, best resolve all these problems at home. People are going to make you a joke if you do this in public. Men who bullied their wives while cheating on them are all scumbags, understood?” When no one was looking, Christopher shot me a wink, signaling that he expected a reward from me for standing up for me.
Yvette piped up, “Chris, don’t call Lyle that. He and Crystal have been in love for ten years…”
“Don’t call me Chris. Call me Christopher. We aren’t close.” Christopher cut her off mercilessly.
