Chapter 3
The male trainers encircling us halted abruptly, their eyes instinctively darting to Mabel.
Mabel's gaze locked onto the badge in my grasp, a glint of suspicion in her eyes.
I surveyed the room with a frosty glare. "Look closely! This badge represents the Canfield Group's authority in Riverton City!
"Only five exist in all of Riverton! It's worth this rundown gym a hundred times! Is this enough to confirm who I am?
"I won't forget what's happened here today, the way you've treated me, my best friend, and the Baker family's heir-to-be."
Then, my voice turned to ice as I said, "I, Yasmin, vow that each of you will regret this!"
The gym was enveloped in an eerie hush.
The receptionist's hands shook as she clutched her phone, and a look of terror was etched on the male trainers' faces.
However, Mabel let out a roar of laughter. "Oh, bravo! What a performance! You should take a bow!
"Frightened? Don't be ridiculous! She's fooled all of you! A pathetic scrap of fake metal, and she thinks she can intimidate us? That's just hilarious!"
Whitney, hand pressed to her bleeding ear, shook with fury. "How dare you say her badge is a fake?!"
"How dare I?" Mabel retorted, fishing a badge from her pocket.
"Because the genuine Canfield Group badge is right here!" Mabel flaunted the badge triumphantly. "Charles, my boyfriend, gave it to me himself!
"He told me it was his most prized possession. Now that he's given it to me, it means I'm the one he truly loves! Your piece? That's just a cheap knockoff!
"Did you think you could fool us, you snake? Saw someone from the Canfield clan with it and had a fake whipped up, thinking you could strut around here with your phony trinket?"
I glared at the badge in her hand, then down at the one I was holding. The serial number was wrong; it was not mine.
My badge had a tooth mark from my childhood, but that one was unblemished.
Charles had swapped my badge.
The man who had been by my side for three years, who greeted me with a kiss every morning, who was the epitome of tenderness, had taken the badge my father gave me and gifted it to his other woman.
A gripping pain squeezed my heart as the truth hit me: Charles had indeed betrayed me.
Every ounce of his supposed tenderness was a sham, and his love, nothing but a charade.
I was his lawfully wedded wife, yet I could not hold a candle to his mistresses.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue now that you've been caught?" Mabel sneered at my shell-shocked face, her voice dripping with triumph. "Let's see you wiggle out of this one!"
No more hesitation. I whipped out my phone and dialed my dad. "Dad, I'm at Charles's new gym. He's cheated on me. His girlfriend and some thugs are beating up Whitney and me. Hurry up!"
"What? That scoundrel Charles dares to touch my baby girl! I'm on my way!" my dad shouted, furious.
"Here we go again. Haven't you had your fill of lies? I bet you're not even calling your dad. You're probably begging that sugar daddy of yours to come save you. However, guess what? No one's coming to your rescue today!"
She turned to the trainers, her voice icy and commanding as she said, "Do it! Beat these two tramps until they can't get up! I'll handle the fallout!"
The trainers lunged at us again, this time with a downright venomous ferocity.
In the mayhem, a man shoved Whitney hard, sending her crashing into the gym's icy glass door.
She crumpled to the floor, and a shocking red began to seep out from under her pant leg.
"Whitney!"
I shoved past the person in front of me and bolted to Whitney's side.
She was clutching her belly, her voice barely a whisper as she said, "Yasmin, it hurts... My baby..."
"Hang in there, Whitney. We're going to get you to a hospital now!" I tried to lift her, panic narrowing my world down to a single thought.
However, Mabel and her cronies stood in our way, their faces set with cruel determination.
"Still putting on a show?" She sneered, a venomous grin twisting her lips. "What's the matter? Can't handle a loss, so you're resorting to faking a crisis to scam some cash? You think I'd fall for that?"
She splayed her fingers, her voice dripping with mockery. "Want to take off? Fine by me. However, first, cough up 75,000 dollars for a membership fee. Consider it payback for the hassle you've caused our business today.
"And then, stop. Admit your mistake out loud. Say, 'I was wrong, Ms. Scott,' and I may just let you scurry away."
Rage roared within me, and I surged to my feet, barreling toward Mabel. "You monster! I'll end you!"
However, just as my fingers were inches from her throat, Charles burst through the door, shouting, "Stop!"
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