Chapter 1 Catching The Adultery

"Let me go! Who are you?" Valerie Brown's voice trembled, her struggles frantic but ineffective.

"Stay still."

The command was low and unrelenting, like gravel sliding down steel. One of the man's hands pinned her wrists to the headboard with effortless strength.

Valerie gasped as fabric gave way with a sharp, ripping sound, the air thick with the sudden violence of it. His touch burned like an ember against her skin-uninvited, scorching, and relentless. She fought, her movements wild and desperate, but his hold was unyielding.

"No... please..." Her voice cracked, small and broken. "I don't even know you..."

The silence answered her-thick and heavy-broken only by his breath, slow and deliberate.

......

A sharp knock on the door shattered Valerie's train of thoughts.

"Miss Brown, the car from the Holt family will arrive shortly. Please get ready to come downstairs."

Valerie nodded faintly, masking the fire of anger behind her cool, indifferent gaze.

It had been a month-a month since that night, when her life had spun out of control. She had lost her virginity to a stranger and, as if fate hadn't punished her enough, she was now being forced to marry Jonathan Holt-a man confined to a bed, comatose and unknowing, all because of a car crash. It was originally a marriage meant for her stepsister-until their father decided Valerie would do just fine.

She'd fought. She'd refused. But her father had anticipated her every move. Holding her ailing mother hostage, he left Valerie no choice but to surrender to his twisted demands.

For a whole month, Valerie had searched relentlessly. Every contact, every whisper of a lead, every phone call had turned into a dead end. Her mother remained out of reach.

In the end, she had no choice but to give in.

Valerie smoothed down the plain white wedding dress, and pulled out her phone to send a text.

"Javier, how is everything going?"

She clenched the device, waiting-hoping-for the screen to light up with a reply.

Javier Barnett was her boyfriend, the one person who hadn't turned his back on her after everything.

Despite knowing about her broken innocence, he had stayed, promising to help her find her mother and take her away from this nightmare.

But the screen stayed dark. Minutes stretched like hours, and still, no reply came.

A flicker of unease twisted in her gut. Unable to stand still, Valerie pushed herself out of the room. The silence of the house pressed in as she made her way downstairs. Passing by a lounge, she froze.

Laughter-her stepsister Lacey Brown's laughter-drifted through the slightly ajar door, sharp as a knife's edge. Then came a voice that made Valerie's blood run cold.

"Thank you, Javier. If it weren't for you sweet-talking her and tipping us off about her plans, she would have found her mother by now. It's time for your reward..."

Valerie stiffened. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest. Javier and Lacey?

Step by step, Valerie edged closer to the door, unable to stop herself. Peering through the gap, her world shattered.

Inside, Javier sat too close to Lacey, his hand brushing her arm, his expression smug and satisfied.

"You little slut," he teased, a cruel grin on his face. "Aren't you afraid Valerie will figure it all out? What if she finds out about us and refuses to go through with the marriage?"

Lacey's laugh rang out, cold and triumphant. "She wouldn't dare. Her mother is still in Dad's clutches, and she knows it." Lacey leaned closer, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Besides, if she ever found out that it was you who drugged her that night and set her up... well, she'd probably lose her mind."

......

The world collapsed around Valerie. Her ears buzzed, a static hum drowning out everything but the sharp ache in her chest.

Her body shook, trembling beyond her control.

She gripped the hem of her wedding dress, her knuckles turning white as she tried to anchor herself-to choke down the rage and heartbreak surging inside her.

This was why her search for her mother had gone nowhere. Javier. Her Javier. The man she thought loved her-truly loved her-had been lying all along.

He hadn't just betrayed her trust; he had betrayed her soul.

Worse, her loss of innocence hadn't been an accident. It was a piece of their twisted game, a cruel trap she had walked into blind.

The sounds coming from the room-Lacey's lustful moaning and Javier's grunting-coiled in Valerie's ears like poison. A wave of nausea rose in her throat, but Valerie swallowed it back, her pain sharpening into something else.

With shaking hands, she wiped away her tears and pulled out her phone. She couldn't let this go. Not now. Not ever.

Peering through the gap once more, she hit "record", capturing every cruel detail. She then uploaded the video to the Brown Group's company group chat from an anonymous account. A single click.

She glanced back at the two inside, her gaze as cold as steel.

"Javier, Lacey," Valerie whispered under her breath, her voice a razor's edge. "This is only the beginning. Once I find my mother, I will make you pay for every lie, every scheme, every piece of me you have shattered."

She turned on her heel, her movements calm but deliberate, and descended the stairs. Without a backward glance, she slipped into the waiting car that would take her to the Holt family's estate.

Meanwhile, phones buzzed, screens flashed, and shocked gasps filled the halls of the Brown Group offices. The video Valerie had uploaded blazed through the company's group chat like wildfire, leaving scandal and uproar in its wake.