Page 47 of Love on the Edge
CC stiffens in Ethan’s arms, her tiny fingers gripping his shirt tighter, like she wants to disappear.
Margo’s eyes land on her daughter first, lips curving into something too sharp to be a real smile. “Well, hello, my child.” Her voice drips with mock sweetness. “Aren’t you excited to see me?”
CC presses her face into Ethan’s chest, shrinking. “Daddy…”
Margo tilts her head, smirk widening. “No hug? Nothing?”
Ethan’s grip tightens. “Stop, Margo. Just stop.”
She barely acknowledges him. Her attention shifts—locking onto me.
“I see my husband and daughter aren’t happy to see me.” Her voice is smooth, practiced, razor-sharp. “Probably because of you.”
Before I can move, before I can even breathe—she slaps me. Hard.
The force jerks my head sideways, heat exploding across my cheek.
Gasps ripple through the room.
The entire party falls into stunned silence. My ears ring. My skin burns. Humiliation sinks in before the pain even registers.
Ethan’s voice is lethal. “Margo.” He tucks CC into his shoulder more, keeping her from seeing whatever is about to happen.
Margo just smiles, satisfied and amused, like she just proved a point.
She leans in, voice dropping just enough for only me to hear.
"Is that how you get ahead, Valeria?" The words drip from her lips, slow, cruel. "By fucking someone that isn't yours? Or by sleeping your way to the top?"
The room doesn’t breathe. I don’t move. Because if the slap humiliated me, this destroys me. Even though I know it’s not true. Ethan is the only person I’ve ever slept with, I’ve worked hard for everything I have, but it still hurts.
The weight of her words presses down, suffocating, wrapping around my ribs, curling around my throat. My cheek still stings, but it’s nothing compared to the way my stomach twists, the way I feel every single set of eyes locked on me, watching, waiting.
Hannah walks up behind us, taking CC from Ethan’s arms as he moves beside me, his entire body coiled, voice controlled but razor-sharp. “Margo, that’s enough.”
She doesn’t look at him. Her focus stays on me, gaze dragging over me like she’s sizing up something cheap and disposable. “She really thinks she belongs here, doesn’t she?”
Ethan clenches his fists. “Don’t do this.”
Margo ignores him, her voice carrying through the stunned silence. “She really thinks spreading her legs for my husband gets her a place at this table?”
The air thickens. The whispers start. My stomach twists.
Ethan takes a step forward, jaw tight. “You don’t get to talk about her like that.”
Margo smirks. “Why not? It’s the truth, isn’t it?” She turns toward the crowd, feeding off the attention, the power shift. “Tell me, is that how it works now? Sleep with the right man, and suddenly your family? In case you forgot,I’mhis wife.”
Ethan moves again, but Nina steps in first.
“Almost ex-wife,” Nina corrects, voice steady, slicing through the tension like a blade. “You just need to sign.”
Margo whips toward her. “Stay out of this, Nina.”
Nina doesn’t flinch. “Oh, honey, this is my brother, my niece, my family. I am in this.”
Drew shakes his head. “No one invited you, Margo. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Ryan lets out an unimpressed breath. “Nothing new there.”
