Chapter 4The Desperate Woman

After my employee presented our revised, much higher bid, the auction organizers smiled with approval. Seeing her chances evaporate, Katie burst into tears and fled the room. Karl shot me a dark look before following her.

I frowned, wondering what new drama they were cooking up. Their malicious bidding war had already forced me to sell off all my company shares to cover the cost.

Just before the auction concluded, Katie returned, wrapped in Karl’s arms. She gave me a cryptic, triumphant smile.

As I was leaving the venue, I noticed people pointing and whispering. Snippets of ugly rumors reached my ears, souring my victory.

Just as I reached the exit, a woman stormed up to me and blocked my path. “Are you the one sending nude photos to my husband?”

Before I could react, she slapped me across the face, sending me sprawling to the ground. “Can’t you go one day without a man, you slut? Sending him videos of you in lingerie, calling him ‘daddy’?”

A crowd started to gather, including some of my own business partners.

“Whoa, she sent them to me, too,” one of them snickered. “I had no idea Ms. Hayes was hiding all that under her business suits. Look at all those toys… she’s wild.”

“Well, now we know how she kept Mr. Shaw wrapped around her finger for so long. She probably slept her way to the top. Can’t blame the guy, what man could resist that?”

My head was spinning from the slap. I looked at the explicit images on the woman’s phone, and my blood ran cold. The woman in the video was wearing lingerie so sheer it was more provocative than being naked, drawing the eye to the most intimate parts of her body.

I tried to explain, but someone threw a cup of coffee at me. The hot, sticky liquid streamed down my head, soaking my blouse.

At the end of the video, my voice, breathy and seductive, echoed from the phone.

The entire crowd fell silent, their eyes fixing on my coffee-stained lips.