Ficorpio
Chapter 1
At my childhood friend’s engagement reception, my phone suddenly lit up with ninety-nine notifications—all of them from a folder full of explicit videos.
The moment the first thumbnails flashed across the banquet hall’s giant LED screen, my scalp went numb. I lunged for my phone, desperate to delete them, but the whole thing had already been cast onto the display.
I had always treated Vanessa Hayes like a sister. For that, she had spent ages convinced there was something inappropriate between me and Ethan Whitmore.
I never imagined that at the critical moment, just before the rings were exchanged, she would project my phone onto the big screen.
Cold sweat broke out across my back. I grabbed the remote and rushed over, trying to talk her down.
“Vanessa, those videos really can’t be shown…”
She sneered. “What, afraid people will see? Don’t make everyone laugh.”
Then, to my disbelief, she shoved me aside with resentment burning in her eyes.
“So now you know how to be ashamed? Why didn’t you think of that when you were seducing my husband?”
“You’ve been acting like his closest childhood friend while sleeping around behind my back. Women like you are rotten to the core.”
“Today, I’m going to let every friend and relative here see exactly how shameless you are in bed.”
I froze.
Because the people in those videos weren’t me and Ethan at all.
They were—
Ethan Whitmore’s engagement reception was being held in the grand ballroom of an upscale hotel. The staff had just finished setting up the slideshow that was supposed to show the couple’s “love story” on the LED display screen.
Then, out of nowhere, a cursor moved across the computer desktop, opened a hidden folder, and the entire ballroom erupted into chaos.
Vanessa stood onstage in her white engagement dress, laughing with a cold, triumphant edge.
“Claire Bennett, did you really think I didn’t know what kind of person you were? Today, in front of everyone, I’m going to tear that mask off your face.”
Before I could react, she snatched the remote and clicked straight into that folder labeled Private Collection.
I recognized it at a glance.
Three years ago, Ethan had accidentally synced it to my office computer while we were working late on a shared project.
Back then, he had gone pale, apologized over and over, and begged me to delete it.
I’d assumed it was nothing more than some adult videos he’d downloaded off the internet. Embarrassed for both of us, I deleted the folder and never thought about it again.
Now, Vanessa stood there pointing at me as if she’d caught me red-handed.
“Scared, Claire? Weren’t you just telling me these videos couldn’t be shown?”
I felt as if I’d swallowed a fly—disgusted, furious, and too stunned to speak.
Because that folder really could not be shown.
Especially not here.
Not in front of so many parents, relatives, and family friends.
The things inside were far too ugly.
Vanessa glared at me. “What’s wrong? Why don’t you go up there and explain yourself?”
Chapter 2
I laughed.
Explain?
She was the one who should be explaining.
“When you were messing around with other men,” I said, “why didn’t you think about how ugly this would look?”
Vanessa turned toward the guests below the stage, her smile sharp with contempt.
“Ladies and gentlemen, since she doesn’t want all of you to see the truth, then I’m going to make sure you see it clearly.”
Her voice rose, every word meant to cut.
“Let’s all take a good look at this woman who acts so innocent in public—and see how filthy she really is behind closed doors.”
A ripple went through the banquet hall.
“Wait… is that Claire Bennett’s voice?”
“Is this the surprise Ethan prepared?”
Through the growing commotion, I saw Ethan Whitmore.
He stood beside the officiant, his face drained of color, his expression so dark it was almost frightening. His lips were pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing. He only looked at me with a gaze that felt like a knife.
My heart sank.
He wasn’t even going to give me a chance to explain.
Vanessa slammed her finger down on the remote.
The LED display screen went black.
Then another video began to play.
The woman in the footage had been heavily blurred. Even her face and hair were mosaicked beyond recognition.
But the speakers carried every breath, every broken, suggestive sound, through the ballroom.
The only thing visible was a shadowy figure from behind, vague and indistinct.
The entire room fell into a dead silence.
Vanessa pointed at the figure on the screen and gave a cold laugh.
“See that?”
She turned to me, triumphant.
“Claire Bennett, in front of all these family friends, why don’t you tell everyone who that is?”
Ethan had once told Vanessa that women like that were only chasing money and attention. That they were cheap. That they would do anything to climb into a rich man’s bed.
I stared at the blurred silhouette on the screen.
That wasn’t me.
My back didn’t look like that. My shoulders, my posture, even the shape of my waist—none of it matched. If Ethan had really paid attention to me, if he had ever truly looked at me, he would have noticed.
But he didn’t.
I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to stand beneath the accusing stares coming from every direction.
“That isn’t me,” I said, my voice pale even to my own ears.
Vanessa immediately laughed.
“Not you? Then who is it, a dog?”
Her eyes gleamed with vicious satisfaction.
“Claire, the evidence is right there. You’re still trying to deny it?”
The first video ended.
Murmurs spread through the hall, low and restless.
Vanessa lifted the remote again and moved the cursor.
“This is the second video.”
She looked at me with mock pity.
“Claire, you’re not still going to keep pretending, are you? I’d love to see how you talk your way out of this one.”
Then she opened the second video folder.
This time, the image was much clearer.
The camera turned, revealing a hotel suite.
Chapter 3
The screen showed a familiar room: an oversized European-style bed, pale carpeting, and, most striking of all, the custom rose-patterned feature wall at the head of the bed.
The banquet hall exploded.
Someone gasped.
“Wait—isn’t that Ethan’s place?”
“Yes, that’s it! I went to see it before. That suite was decorated exactly like that.”
“And that rose wall—wasn’t it installed specially for the engagement?”
The whispers grew louder and louder.
I froze.
Of course I recognized it too.
It was Ethan’s bridal suite.
For one brief second, Vanessa’s expression went rigid.
Then she spun around. The moment she saw the two people on the sofa, her eyes locked on me with venomous hatred.
“Claire Bennett, you are shameless!”
“You actually waited until I wasn’t home, snuck into our bridal suite, and seduced Ethan?”
“You slept in my wedding bed. The bed I’m supposed to share with him after we’re married!”
Her performance of shock and fury was flawless. Her brows drew tight, her voice shook, and every word landed like an accusation carved in stone.
“How could you be this vile?” she demanded. “You couldn’t stand seeing Ethan and me happy, could you? You’ve been waiting for this day all along, haven’t you?”
“Doing that in someone else’s wedding bed—aren’t you afraid karma will come for you?”
My throat closed.
I couldn’t say a word.
Because no matter whether this was my mistake or someone else’s setup, I was the one standing here beneath everyone’s stare.
The banquet guests below the stage began whispering, their disgust spreading like wildfire.
“Oh my God. How can she be so shameless?”
“She went after her childhood friend while his fiancée wasn’t around? And even climbed into the wedding bed?”
“A woman like that is disgusting. Is she after the Whitmore money?”
Then a figure suddenly rushed toward Ethan.
It was Ethan’s mother—Eleanor Whitmore.
The woman who had once been like a second mother to me.
Before I could react, her hand flew across my face.
The slap snapped my head to the side. Heat flared across my cheek, and my eyes stung at once.
“I treated you like my own daughter,” Eleanor said, her voice trembling. “How could you do something as disgraceful as stealing another woman’s fiancé?”
She pointed at my nose, shaking with anger.
“And in Ethan and Vanessa’s bridal suite, of all places. How could you have so little shame?”
“I am so disappointed in you. From now on, our families have nothing to do with each other.”
I looked at the disappointment in her eyes, and the tears I had been holding back finally blurred my vision.
When I was a child and had nowhere else to go, she was the one who brought me into the Whitmore family’s life.
She had always said she saw me as a daughter.
But now, she didn’t believe me either.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.