Chapter 422

The dim hotel room lights flickered as Vivian Prescott lay tangled in the sheets with Gregory Thornton.

She had made this compromise too many times - trading her dignity for career advancement at Spotlight News.

The sudden crash of the door slamming open made them both jump.

"Ah!"

Vivian scrambled off the older man, clutching the silk sheets to her bare chest.

Gregory, the director of Spotlight News, fumbled for his discarded shirt with trembling hands. His face drained of color when he saw who stood in the doorway.

"M-Margaret?"

"So this is the slut you've been fucking, Gregory?"

Margaret Thornton's towering 5'9" frame filled the doorway, her muscular arms crossed over her designer blazer. The former collegiate athlete made ordinary women look fragile in comparison.

With a contemptuous snort, Margaret shrugged off her jacket, revealing biceps that could rival most men's.

"I expected better taste from you. What could possibly attract you to this...mediocrity?"

Before Vivian could react, Margaret lunged forward, yanking her out of bed by her bleached blonde hair.

The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the room as Margaret delivered five brutal slaps that left Vivian's face swollen and bleeding.

Each strike released years of pent-up rage in Margaret.

"Gregory! Help me! Please!" Vivian screamed through split lips.

But Gregory cowered in the corner, shaking like a leaf in a storm.

Margaret's assistant Lydia Chambers entered with two hulking bodyguards in tow.

"Come quick everyone! See the homewrecking whore who dared seduce my boss's husband!" Lydia announced cheerfully, raising her phone to capture every humiliating moment.

The live stream began immediately, flooding social media with the scandalous scene.

Vivian and Gregory could only stare in horror.

"On your knees, Gregory!" Margaret commanded.

Her husband dropped instantly, forehead pressed to the carpet.

"That failed investment would have ruined you if not for my family's money. Every luxury you enjoy comes from my trust fund!"

Margaret delivered a savage kick to his face as the live stream comments exploded with cheering emojis.

"Now that you're successful, you betray me? Remember - you're nothing without me!"

"Nothing...I'm nothing..." Gregory whimpered, his professional persona shattered.

Vivian crawled forward, tears streaking her ruined makeup. She couldn't comprehend how their two-year affair had been exposed.

The bodyguards took turns beating Gregory while Margaret focused on Vivian. A vicious backhand sent one of Vivian's veneers skittering across the floor.

Lydia wisely ended the live stream before the dental work flew.

By the end, Gregory was dragged out semi-conscious, still shirtless and bleeding.

Vivian curled into a fetal position, her face a mosaic of scratches, her expensive extensions torn out in clumps.

"Confused about how I found out, slut?" Margaret loomed over her. "You brought this on yourself. Think hard about who you've crossed recently."

The name came to Vivian in a flash of terror.

"Evelyn Carter...it has to be Evelyn!"

Her phone buzzed ominously on the nightstand.

With trembling fingers, Vivian opened the new email attachment - a voice recording.

Henry Whitmore's voice filled the room, detailing how Vivian had seduced him into stealing Monarch Grand Hotels' wedding planning proposal.

The recording ended with a single, damning sentence: "This was all Vivian Prescott's idea."

The phone slipped from her bloodied fingers as reality crashed down.