My Fiancé’s Cheating Scandal: Live on Engagement Night

"Genevieve. Wake up." The voice scraped against my ear. My lungs seized. I bolted upright, the sheets twisting around my legs.

I stared at the man sitting on the edge of the mattress. Ice flooded my veins, paralyzing my vocal cords. Three months. I had been three months pregnant.

The memory of my past life tore through my skull. I had smiled as I handed him the tiny ultrasound photo. Then came the blade.

He butchered me and the baby growing inside me. "You owe my true love a life," he had whispered as my blood pooled on the floor. "You will pay for her child." "What's wrong, silly girl?" Hugo's hand brushed a strand of hair from my sweatdrenched forehead. "Are you that excited?" His touch burned like acid.

The gentle curve of his smile made my stomach heave.

I dug my fingernails so deep into my palms the skin nearly split. "Come on, get up." He tapped my nose. "Tonight is our big engagement party.

My little princess needs time to get gorgeous." The words slammed into my chest. Tonight. My breathing hitched. Tonight was the night he would sneak off with his old college fling.

Tonight was the night their twisted affair would begin behind my back. Chapter 1 In my previous life, they got too sloppy. I caught them treating my own bedroom like a cheap motel.

Back then, I was so blindly obsessed with him that I merely told him to cut contact with his old college fling. My jaw tightened until my teeth ached.

He broke his own promises, yet he blamed me when her frail body finally gave out. He branded me her murderer. I stared at the empty space where he had just been standing.

I couldn't marry Hugo. Blood dripped from his hands—my blood, and my unborn child's.

But I wasn't going to spend my second life hiding in the shadows. "Is Desiree coming tonight?" Hugo froze, his hand hovering over the doorknob. He knew I despised her.

Ever since Desiree publicly announced she was coming after him, I had made my disgust clear. But my open hostility never put a dent in her shamelessness.

She just kept throwing herself at my boyfriend. "If she comes, it might upset you." A muscle twitched in his jaw. "Let's just leave her off the list." I saw right through the microexpression.

It was the exact same script as my past life.

I knew exactly what game he was playing. "Why would it?" I tilted my head. "If she comes and watches us get engaged with her own eyes, she'll finally give up.

Then she'll stop harassing you, right?" "But—" "No buts." I cut him off. "There's still time to send her an invite." I gestured to my staff.

They moved immediately to deliver the invitation. Hugo didn't get another word in.

Given Desiree's theatrics, watching Hugo put a ring on my finger would send her into a total meltdown. Perfect. This time, I'd hand them to each other on a silver platter.

That way, he could never accuse me of keeping him from his one true love. I made sure the invitation was sent strictly under Hugo's name.

The desperate stagefive clinger would probably lose her mind with joy.

The second Desiree stepped foot onto the estate grounds, Hugo intercepted her and pulled her into a secluded alcove. I watched from the balcony above.

Someone on my payroll had tipped him off about her arrival.

I mentally noted to clean house tomorrow. "Hugo, why did you invite me?" Desiree's voice drifted up to where I stood. "Are you just trying to humiliate me?

You want me to stand in front of everyone and cry over you?

Is that what gets you off?" Her lower lip trembled, her eyes already brimming with perfectly timed tears. "Listen to me, I had no choice." Hugo grabbed her shoulders. "You know my position." "My family only values me because of this marriage alliance.

I swear, I never cared for Genevieve. It's always been you." Desiree's breath hitched, her fingers digging eagerly into his lapels. "Really?

Then… can I have a kiss?" "Of course, baby." Chapter 2 I stared at the security monitor. Hugo and Desiree were practically swallowing each other whole. Five solid minutes.

I had to admire their lung capacity. It was like watching a slowmotion car crash. Like Desiree, Hugo was an illegitimate child.

The Beaumont family's eldest son, Cassian, was halfcrippled, giving ablebodied Hugo a solid shot at the inheritance.

But marrying me pushed his odds to an absolute hundred percent. In my last life, he used my resources to seize his family's empire, his power swelling until he was untouchable.

Not this time. The evening engagement gala buzzed with the city's elite. Hugo played his part beautifully in a customtailored suit. "Wow, Hugo is gorgeous.

He and Genevieve look perfect together." "Obviously. You have to be pretty to be a golddigger. He's totally marrying into her money." Marrying up came with whispers.

In my past life, I had shielded him from all of it. I had let it be known that crossing Hugo meant crossing me. Now?

I just grabbed a metaphorical bucket of popcorn. "Genevieve, they're being awful." Hugo leaned in. "Can't you just—" "Absolutely not." I didn't even look at him. "Do you have any idea who is in this room?

If I start throwing people out, my family's reputation goes down the drain." "But hearing them talk about me like that… it hurts." The edges of his eyes reddened.

He executed the pathetic, holdingbacktears routine flawlessly. I had to admit, he had a pretty face.

In my past life, that exact expression would have had me wrapped around his finger.

Now, my stomach just churned. "Hugo." I turned to him, adopting a tone of exhausted patience. "You're not a child." "You expect me to kick out my family's business partners just because your feelings are hurt?

Grow up." His jaw clamped shut. A faint smudge of Desiree's lipstick still clung to the corner of his mouth. I used to love him more than I loved myself.

I had crushed every rumor, protecting him under glass so he never felt a single scratch. "Genevieve, it's time." Hugo checked his watch. "Why aren't we starting the ceremony?

It's bad luck to miss the exact hour." I ignored him. I was waiting for someone. In my last life, by the time he finally arrived, the rings had already been exchanged.

This time, I was going to make sure he saw the show I orchestrated. "Exactly, Genevieve. Look at the time. Let's get this moving." The shrill voice belonged to Hugo's mother.

Because I had worshipped her son, I used to treat her words like absolute law.

To curry favor with her, I hadn't even invited the actual matriarch of the Beaumont family—only this mistress.

I had been completely out of my mind. "Since when do we allow mistresses into my family's galas?" My voice sliced through the chatter.

I snapped my fingers at the nearest guard. "Security. Escort her out. The actual Mrs. Beaumont is a dear friend of my mother's, not this homewrecker." The ballroom went dead silent.

Every eye locked onto us. Hugo's mother gasped, her face draining of color. "Genevieve, you're insane!" her voice cracked. "How dare you humiliate me! Hugo, we are leaving.

The engagement is off." Chapter 3 I stood there, taking it all in. My parents hadn't even bothered to show up to my engagement party.

In my past life, their empty seats had felt like a brutal betrayal. Now, the math made perfect sense.

They had seen right through Hugo from day one, but since I was too stupid to listen, they opted out of watching the train wreck. Hugo's chest heaved.

He stepped directly into my line of sight. "Genevieve, you're out of your mind." He pointed a shaking finger at me. "What gives you the right to insult her?

If that bitch hadn't blackmailed my father into marriage, my mother wouldn't have suffered all these years!" He grabbed her wrist, making a huge show of storming out. "Insult me all you want, but you do not touch my mother.

Mom, let's go. The engagement is off." I didn't move an inch. Beside them, Mr.

Beaumont shifted uncomfortably, his previous smugness vaporizing. "Your father married into his wife's fortune," I stated.

My voice cut through the room, clear and entirely devoid of warmth. "He didn't get his hands on the Beaumont company until his fatherinlaw died two years ago.

And you, Hugo, weren't even acknowledged until the old man was in the ground." I stared down at Hugo's father. His jaw practically unhinged. "Let's look at the timeline.

You and your brother, Cassian, are exactly one month apart in age." "That makes you the product of an affair. Your mother is a mistress. You are an illegitimate son.

Isn't that right, Mr. Beaumont?" He was probably wondering how I knew the family's dirty laundry.

My mother had handed me the dossier years ago, but back then, I had blindly defended Hugo, claiming the sins of the father had nothing to do with him. "That's bullshit." Hugo glared at me. "My dad isn't a kept man.

It's because of that awful woman that my mom couldn't be with him." I rolled my eyes. "Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont are still legally married to this day.

That makes your mother a homewrecker, and you a bastard." I crossed my arms. "There's the door, Hugo.

Walk through it right now if you want." "I have a line of men waiting to take your place, and every single one of them is a massive upgrade." Step one of my revenge tour: shatter his ego.

I had spent my last life convincing him he was the center of the universe, treating him like he was some irreplaceable prize. "Mr.

Beaumont, if your actual wife couldn't make it tonight, I understand," I said, glancing back at his father. "But dragging your mistress into my home crosses a line." I snapped my fingers. "Security.

I won't ask twice. Get her out." If Hugo had an ounce of spine, he would have walked out the door with his mother. But I knew exactly what he was. He was a parasite.

He wasn't about to walk away from my bank account. The guards flanked his mother. Her face mottled red with rage, but she swallowed it down.

She didn't dare make a scene as they escorted her out of the ballroom. "Genevieve." Hugo swallowed hard. "She's gone.

Can we start the ceremony now?" "Of course we can." I flashed him a bright, empty smile. "Let me just touch up my makeup.

We'll start right away." Seeing my tone return to normal, the tension visibly drained from his shoulders. Before the ring exchange, there was always a video montage.

In my last life, I had spent hours editing together a reel of our sweetest moments, high on my own delusions. God, I was embarrassing. No wonder my parents stayed home.

Tonight's premiere wouldn't feature our romance. Well, technically, I did edit this one too.

Five uninterrupted minutes of Hugo and Desiree practically eating each other's faces, broadcast on a massive HD screen for the entire city's elite to watch.

Talk about making a statement. Chapter 4 "Do you like my gift, Hugo?" I offered him a tight, flawless smile.

Hugo's eyes darkened, the muscles in his jaw ticking so hard they looked ready to snap. If looks could kill, he would have ripped my throat out with his teeth.

But he couldn't take a single step forward. A solid wall of broadshouldered bodyguards already flanked me. Desiree stared at the massive screen.

Her face was plastered across it in ultrahigh definition, undeniable and completely exposed. The color drained from her cheeks.

Her family already treated her like a nuisance, and she usually tiptoed around high society trying to survive.

But the moment she met Hugo, she threw all that caution to the wind, letting her twisted obsession take the wheel. "Hugo…" she choked out.

She didn't stick around to say anything else. Even an idiot could see the trap snapping shut. She finally realized I had invited her here for one reason: a public execution.

A twisted sense of relief washed over me. No ring exchange tonight. And more importantly, he wouldn't have to see it.

If he showed up, he'd probably find this whole spectacle entertaining. Though I wasn't sure if he was still mad at me. If he was, I'd just have to coax him out of it.

Older men were always so moody. It came with the territory.

When the video first started playing, the crowd assumed it was just a spicy, overthetop montage of Hugo and me. "Is Genevieve out of her mind?

What a desperate simp." "Tell me about it. I thought she had some backbone. This is just pathetic. No wonder her parents bailed.

If my daughter pulled this, I'd disown her on the spot." "Keep your voice down. It's still her territory.

But yeah, her family is totally going to cut her off if she keeps acting like this." I didn't flinch at the whispers. I just waited for the camera angle to shift. "Wait a second.

That's not Genevieve. That's another girl! Holy shit, did she just air him out in public? This is wild!" "Damn. So she wasn't a blind simp after all.

She was just setting the bait." "Are you kidding me? This just turned into a total revenge thriller!" The elite circle in this city wasn't that big.

Desiree might not have been a supermodel, but her face was familiar enough. It only took a few seconds for the recognition to hit. "Is that Desiree? The illegitimate daughter?

The absolute nerve! Going after Genevieve's man? Does she have a death wish?" "She is so done for. You don't cross Genevieve." "Her whole family is about to get blacklisted.

I can't wait to watch the fallout." The ballroom buzzed, practically vibrating with the collective thrill of a highsociety scandal.

I picked up a microphone and walked to the center of the stage.

The spotlights tracked my movements. "Ladies and gentlemen." My voice echoed through the massive speakers, smooth and detached. "Since Hugo and Desiree are so clearly devoted to each other, I simply couldn't stand in the way of true love.

Consider tonight's engagement party my gift to them. May they be bound together forever." I lowered the mic. Honestly, I delivered that line perfectly.

I felt like a modernday saint. Tossing two pieces of trash into the same dumpster and wishing them well? I was practically glowing with my own generosity.

It almost brought a tear to my eye