Chapter 2 The Truth Unveiled

"Thank you for your delivery."

The words sliced through the air, cold and mocking. Cora's entire body went numb. She stood there, frozen in the doorway, her mind refusing to accept what her eyes were seeing.

This was not real. This could not be real.

Liam-her Liam-stood there in another woman's apartment. Shirtless. Guilty. And he was not even trying to hide it.

"Cora..." His voice was flat. Empty. Like her name meant nothing in his mouth anymore.

"Liam." Her voice came out broken, barely a whisper. "What... what is this?"

He did not answer right away. Instead, he looked at Vanessa, then back at Cora. Something shifted in his expression. The guilt disappeared, replaced by something harder. Colder.

"I am with Vanessa now," he said simply. "There is no point pretending anymore."

The world tilted beneath Cora's feet. Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard she thought it might crack them open. "Pretending? What are you talking about? Liam, today is our anniversary! Our third anniversary!"

"I know what day it is." His jaw tightened. "That is why I was planning to end this tonight."

End this. End this. The words spun in her head like a nightmare she could not wake up from.

"You were planning-" Cora's breath hitched. Her hands started shaking. "You were planning to leave me? On our anniversary?"

"Better today than never, right?" Vanessa's voice cut in, sweet as honey and just as sticky. She was still sprawled on that couch, looking at Cora like she was something dirty that had been dragged in from the street.

Cora's vision blurred with tears, but she blinked them back. No. She would not cry. Not yet. Not in front of them.

"Liam, please." She took a step forward, her voice cracking. "Whatever this is, we can fix it. We can talk about it. Just... just come home with me. Please."

"Home?" Liam laughed. Actually laughed. "That cramped little apartment? That is not a home, Cora. That is a prison."

The words stabbed into her chest, each one twisting deeper.

"I worked three jobs for that apartment!" Her voice rose, raw and desperate. "I made sure we had food! I made sure the rent was paid! Everything I did was for you!"

"And I am supposed to be grateful?" Liam's eyes flashed with anger now. "You think working yourself to death makes you special? It just makes you pathetic."

Something inside Cora shattered.

Her hand moved before her brain could catch up.

SLAP!

The sound cracked through the apartment like a whip. Sharp. Violent. Real.

Liam's head snapped to the side. His cheek bloomed red. The shock on his face would have been satisfying if Cora's hand was not burning, if her heart was not breaking into a million pieces.

For three seconds, nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

Then Liam's face twisted with rage.

His hand came up.

SLAP!

The slap sent Cora stumbling backward. Pain exploded across her face-hot, brutal, blinding. She tasted copper. Blood. Her ear rang like a bell that would not stop.

She pressed her hand to her cheek, gasping. Liam had never hit her before. Never. Not once in three years.

"Do not ever touch me again," Liam snarled. His eyes were empty now. Like she was nothing. Like she had never been anything. "Vanessa here is the reason I landed a lead role with Director Morrison in his new movie. I am about to become a star, Cora. A real star. And you?" He looked her up and down with pure disgust. "You are just a delivery girl. You are not good for me anymore."

Cora's legs felt like water. "What... what are you saying?"

Liam turned away from her and walked to a designer bag sitting on the side table. He pulled out a thick stack of papers-crisp, white, official-looking. Divorce papers.

He tossed them at her feet like trash.

"I was going to give these to you when I got home tonight," he said, his voice casual now. Bored, even. "But since you are already here, you might as well sign them now. I will throw in some money for your trouble. Consider it compensation for wasting three years of my life."

Cora stared at the papers scattered across the expensive floor. Her whole body trembled. This was not happening. This could not be happening.

"You... you had these ready?" Her voice was so small. "You were going to divorce me on our anniversary?"

"Why not? It is as good a day as any."

The cruelty in his voice broke something in her that could never be fixed.

"No." The word came out like a growl. "No!"

Cora lunged forward and grabbed Liam by his shirt, her fingers twisting into the fabric. She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered, but she did not let go.

"I worked three jobs to make sure we were living well!" she screamed in his face. "Three jobs, Liam! I barely slept! I performed badly in college because I was working myself to death, all because of you! I sent recommendation letters to every damn director in this city, including Morrison! I am the reason you got this job! ME! Not her!"

For just a moment, something flickered in Liam's eyes. Was it guilt? Shame? Regret?

But then Vanessa stood up.

She moved like a predator, slow and confident. Her robe slipped down one shoulder as she walked, revealing perfect skin and curves that belonged on billboards. She stopped next to Liam and traced one long finger down his bare chest.

She looked at Cora like she was an insect.

"Actually," Vanessa said, her voice dripping with false sweetness, "it is because of me."

Cora's hands went slack. She let go of Liam's shirt.

Vanessa smiled, showing perfect white teeth. "Vanessa Sterling. Of the Sterling family. You know, the family that owns half this city? The family that built the Sterling Entertainment empire?"

No. No, no, no.

"Ethan Sterling, the brilliant lawyer who also happens to run Sterling Productions, is my adopted brother." Vanessa tilted her head, enjoying every second of this. "Director Morrison works under our production company. He gave Liam the role as a personal favor to me. Not because of some pathetic recommendation letter from a nobody delivery girl."

The air left Cora's lungs.

Sterling. That name was everywhere. On buildings. In newspapers. On charity foundations. They were one of the most powerful families in the country.

And Vanessa was one of them.

Liam pulled Vanessa close, wrapping his arm around her waist possessively. He looked down at Cora with pure contempt. "That is right, Cora. Vanessa is a Sterling. Morrison gave me the role because of her. Because of her family's influence. Your little letters meant nothing. You meant nothing."

Cora's mouth fell open. Her mind went blank. Empty. Like someone had reached inside her skull and scraped out everything that made her human.

Liam and Vanessa looked at each other. And then they started laughing.

It was the cruelest sound Cora had ever heard.

Vanessa threw her head back, her laughter light and musical. "Oh, this is too good. Look at her face, Liam. She actually believed she mattered!"