Ding!

Her phone screen lit up displaying the image of a young man and woman intertwined on a grand bed. Stunned by what she saw, Kyree raises her hand and waved off the group of Makeup artists attending to her.

She could see but her mind failed to process the picture she was looking at. In disbelief she clicked on the play button, wordlessly sitting through the 3 minutes long video without an iota of expression on her face. Only the heavens knew how many times her heart broke every second her eyes stayed glued on that screen.

In the end the phone slipped from her hands and she crumbled down in tears. Tears of heartache, anger and resentment.

That man was supposed to be her husband. Her darling husband but there he was having an affair with another woman. She had always known his heart wasn't with her. Nevertheless, despite always having heard rumours of his affairs, it still hurts deeply to have the proof thrown at her face. It was one thing to hear and another thing to see it happening. And seeing it felt like the knife that had always hovered around her heart had finally sunk through it.

It hurt most especially because she knew there was nothing she had not done for this man. Her whole life, her whole existence was built around this man yet it meant completely nothing to him.

They had been married for five years and in these five years he had not so much as touched a finger of hers. She had done all she could, all she should even those she shouldn't but no matter all she did it was a futile effort to get his attention. It was as if she was reaching out for something that wasn't meant to be hers.

Wasn't meant to be hers?

If his love wasn't meant to be hers why were they married? He was her husband for heaven's sake! and haven't she been the perfect wife all these years?!

She gave up everything, her dreams, her chance to have a career, just so she could be the perfect trophy wife. Yet he still treated her like this. What made her do detestable that he could not give her his love?

Even if he could not love her, must he always humiliate her like this?! Choosing such a lowlife nobody over her!

No! She would not let this happen!

She was the only daughter of the Prestigious Reeves family, how could she be inferior to a common showbiz wench!

Thinking to this point, her eyes blazed in anger. Simultaneously the door swept open and a coquettish young lady waltzed into the room.

"Seeing your fuming face, I must assume you also got the message" The young lady spat out contemptuously. Her tone wasn't the only thing that showed she had no regards to Kyree's status. Her eyes spat out bolt of disdain and she plopped herself on the stool next to Kyree.

Kyree became infuriated with the girl's presence. Enemies they say meet at crossroads but this was no crossroad. The only reason this young lady would have for specifically coming to find her in her dressing room would be to taunt her. It wouldn't be a new expression actually.

Ever since she had known this young lady, there wasn't a day that went by without her taunting and mocking her. If there as anyone she hoped she could remove from the Howe family, it would be this cousin that had no sense of propriety.

"Adaline what do you want?" She practically scowled. Her plate was already full with a certain wench that wanted to take her husband away from her. She didn't have the time to deal with anyone else yet.

"What do I want?" Adaline chuckled, her voice ringing like melodic bells "if it isn't to see your pitiful self that is about to lose the status as the First lady of the Howe family what else?"

"Dream on!" Kyree got more infuriated. "Don't think I don't know you are one of those shameless ladies waiting to throw yourself at my husband. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Blood related or not, he is your cousin but you've set your eyes on him. What do you think your Aunty and Uncle would say when they find out you are fantasizing about your dearest cousin like a cheap wh*re"

"You_" in anger Adaline swung her hand across Kyree's face. Kyree was already prepared so she stopped the olm before it could strike her face.

Seeing that she had successfully struck Adaline where it hurt, a satisfied smile graced her lips.

"Unfortunately for you, as long as I am here, none of you shameless b*tches would be able to enter into the Howe family. Heed my warning, take your eyes off things that belong to me cause you would never be able to get it" she flung Adaline's hand away.

Adaline glared at her in resentment. Who did Kyree think she was coming to take the place as Alaric's wife like it was meant for her. She was in his life way before Kyree got into the picture even way before she was adopted into the Howe family as the daughter of the second branch, so why was it that when it was time, Kyree was chosen to be his wife and she was thrown to the side.

She can not accept that!

Why wasn't she Mrs Alaric Howe instead?

Staring at Kyree, the resentment in her heart grew bigger and bigger. This fool had not only taken her place in Alaric's life, but had also succeeded in pushing him into the arms of another Female how could she not hate her even more now.

"you think you are the first lady of the Howe family. You're just a foolish puppets that would soon be discarded very soon. You can even keep a simple chief host speech, so how long do you think you will be able to keep this marriage" She scoffed and turned around walking towards the door.

The words she left were like arrows that Pierced Kyree's heart.

She lost the Chief host Speech?

That's impossible. The Old matriarch had informed her just this very morning that she would give the chief host speech at the party today so how was it that she had lost it? They could not suddenly change it in a measly twelve hours!

It must be Adaline trying to mess with her head. Yes that must be it!

"You Liar! Your words mean nothing to me!" She exclaimed at the figure already reaching out for the handle of the door.

Adaline looked over her shoulder. The derisive smirk on her lips caused Kyree's heart to skip a bit. She knew Adaline much too well to know when she was bluffing and when she was sure of what she was saying.

Does that mean she truly had been swapped?... But with whom? Who else was eligible to give the opening speech at the families party if not the First and only daughter-in-law. Alaric had no brother who was married and she had been the one to plan out tonight's party so she really was eligible to give the speech. Why would she be swapped out?

"Tsk tsk. Look at you. You lost but your husband and your moment of truth to a nobody but you still think you are on top of the world. I see why the family sees you as a fool. You truly are a fool" Adaline takes and walked out of the room.

The sound of the door banging shut was nothing comparable to the sound of Kyree's mind exploding from the realisation of the truth.

The same person? The same person!?!

They had given her role as Chief host to the same person her husband was having an affair with!

How dare they?!

What did that mean? Were they trying to tell the whole world that they were okay with him bringing another lady into his marriage? Was this their way of saying they no longer wanted her as the First Young Madam of the Howe family.

But why?! Why would they choose to disgrace her like this? Haven't she been disgraced enough already!?!

Fuelled by anger, Kyree swept the things on the table to the ground. Sounds of glass breaking and things hitting the floor immediately echoed out from the room. But it wasn't enough to quell her anger.

So she yanked the door open and matched out with a half done makeup that made her look like a clown but she didn't even seem to realise that. The only thing on her mind was to stop another woman from taking her place.

She had strived to attain her husband's heart for five years, she couldn't get that but she wasn't about to lose her place as his wife. She was the wife of Alaric Howe and and she would remain his wife till they were both grey headed and weary!

As she matched down the hall in search of that person, the stares from the crowd were no different from the view of moving objects outside the window of a speeding vehicle. You see them but you forget them one second after seeing them.

Besides she had always been the object of such stares since her marriage to Alaric, so this time made no difference. If she had only stopped to understand what the stares where about then she might have noticed what a sorry state she was in.

Her hair was half tied into an ostrich-like bun and half left down in curls, it wasn't a trending style just an evidence that her hair stylist had not had the time to finish putting her strands of thigh length hair into beautiful loose curls. Now she looked like a manic let loose from an asylum. The side of her long white dinner dress was smeared by the palate of makeup she had brushed down the dressing table. Her face was painted in uneven shades of contour, foundation and blush, surely for the same reason as the first. In other words she was a spectacle at the moment and the crowd spared no hesitance gawking at her embarrassment.

She matched down the corridor like a spiked gorilla. In the end her gaze landed on the arch nemesis for the moment. A gorgeous Young lady, clearly not that young but the innocent smile and goddess like makeup brought back a stunning level of youthfulness to her face making her look even much younger than Kyree herself who was sin truth quite young.

Realising the contrast between her current appearance and that of this young lady, the anger in her heart Burnes brightly.

Slap!

She stomped towards the young lady and before anyone could realise what was happening, her plan had swung viciously across the lady's cheek.

"You ugly wench!" She yelled, the crowd gasped in shock. "How dare you seduce my husband?!"

If they didn't already know, now they did. The crazy young lady turned out to be Kyree Reeves, the daughter of the multimillionaire Art auction company Family as well as the Daughter-in-law to the Howe family and Wife to Alaric Howe.

The disclosure of her identity only caused the eyes of people to squint in disgust. Who didn't know the infamous Heiress? She was the bane of her family and a shrew amongst Socialites. Her very reputation was like a rag in public. Seeing her display the character they already knew her for was not surprising at all, rather it was far more engaging than the variety shows of the entertainment industry these days. Who would say no to a good public drama. Obviously no one. So they all focused their eyes and ears on the scene waiting to see this famous Heiress disgrace both her biological and matrimonial family once again.

"What is the meaning of this?" A flash of anger passed Regina's eyes after being slapped, but realising that they had both become the centre of attention, she curbed her anger, instead putting on an aggrieved expression.

A thirty year old lady acting aggrieved and pitiful before a twenty two year old lady would surely have been a disgusting sight if their appearance didn't appear to be the opposite of what they were. While the actress Regina looked to be the youngest amongst the two, Kyree disheveled appearance made her look like an ugly middle aged woman.

"The meaning of this?! I should be the one asking you that! What is the meaning of this?" Kyree shoved her phone screen into Regina's face. The video from earlier was left on repeat, like a moving wallpaper.

Although the sender had been from an anonymous number, she could not help but conclude that this was the handwork of the Actress herself, if not who else would have been able to get such a video and even have the effrontery to send it to not only her but also Adaline. If it wasn't this ugly old woman who was trying to flaunt her affair with Alaric there as no one else!

Unexpectedly the Actress face turned blue after seeing the video on Kyree's face. The surprise that displayed on her face was not something that could be fake. She apparently had no idea of the existence of that video. Alarmed that other would see the video, she struck the phone out of Kyree's hands.

Crash!

The phone fell to the ground and shattered. The commotion became even more pronounced. From the view of the crowd, Kyree had harshly thrown her phone at the actress in attempt to hurt her.

Murmurs and whispers broke out. The hall immediately turned into an uproar. From disgust to apprehension. The crowd was looking at Kyree with all manner of Judging looks.

"Are you insane? What would you gain if you try to hurt me?" Seeing that the crowd's impression was in her favour, Regina played along. She held her chest, as if frightened by the actions of Kyree. It definitely is a surprise that she was merely a C-list actress with her level of acting skills.

"Hurt you? I haven't even done anything and you're trying to play the victim! Even if I try to hurt you, you deserve it for sleeping with my husband!"

Like a spotlight, eyes turned from Kyree to the actress. Mental scales began to weigh the truth of this accusations in their minds. The woman in Question was a actress, a mere C+list at that. It was not impossible that she had tried to climb up the hierarchy but sleeping with a rich man. The rumours of seeing The Young CEO Alaric with an actress recently also played as evidence to this accusation from his wife.

Regina gritted her teeth and glared at Kyree. She had plans of climbing her way into the Howe family but she also intended to do that with a clean slate. How else was she supposed to climb up in her career of not playing out the story of Cinderella. The rich prince charming fell for the lowly orphan and chooses to spend the rest of his life with her. If she lets the rumours that she had been a third party in the relationship between the man and his wife spread, no one would root for her later on. Instead they would spite her till the ends of the earth.

"Does CEO Alaric know you're slandering his reputation this way? Even if you don't trust me can't you trust your husband's impeccable character" She defended righteously.

Of course! The crowd's mind was quick to believe in her reasoning.

Who was the Young man?

The son of the great Howe family, Alaric Howe. His family's name put aside, the young man himself was a very desirable young man in the heart of many, because he was a kind hearted and righteous man. How could someone who was known for doing the right things suddenly start cheating on his wife?

"I am merely a C-list actress. I have no power, fame or connection to my name, so how can I ever dream of fighting with you. If my collaboration with the Howe company is a problem for you, then I would terminate it. I don't want to be the reason Mr Alaric's image is destroyed" she wiped away a fake tears, acting like she had been forced to take a bitter lemon.

Her pitiful act only infuriated Kyree the more. She moved the slap the woman but a hand swiftly gripped her wrist. Turning she saw her dearest husband marching forward, followed by the members of the Howe family. The young man that had stopped her hand, bowed at walked over to her husband's side.

"What do you think you are doing Kyree?" Alaric glared at the young girl. Displeasure hidden in the deepest part of his eyes. The Howe family were no different. The eyes of each of them only held disapproval, disgust, anger and nothing else.

"Al_"

"Stop this ruckus at once!" The young man gave her no chance to speak.

Ruckus?

Kyree didn't know whether to cry or laugh. He called her actions a ruckus but he wasn't the one that sat to watch his matrimonial partner make love to someone else. He called this ruckus but he had sent his precious secretary to stop her from hurting his lover. He wouldn't even ask his secretary to the door for her yet he sent him forth like a loyal dog all for his lover!

"You think I'm causing a scene now? But you didn't think of how I would feel when you were having an affair!" Kyree exclaimed. Perhaps years of bottling up her emotions had taken a toll on her that this time became the straw that broke the camel's back causing her to snap. She didn't even try to maintain her perfect, understanding wife persona before her husband now.

"Nonsense!" The Old matriarch scolded "someone come and take this unfilial child out of here. We would not let a maniac like her ruin the family celebration" servant marched forward instantly ready to drag her out like the lunatic they had called her.

Finally Kyree panicked. This was the Howe family's ancestral celebration, if she was dragged out of here, what would be left of her status as the First Young Madam?

She absolutely could not allow that!

She stepped back anxiously, moving away from the reach of the servant. Slowly she backed into Regina's arm, at least that was what it looked like but in truth, Regina had adjust her position, just enough to stop Kyree from escaping. If she could be publicly dragged out of the Howe's family celebration, Kyree's status as Alaric's wife would forever be on a scale. With just a small pressure from the netizens, it would be possible to get them to throw her out of the family completely.

How could Regina give up such an opportunity?

"See starting from this party, slowly I'll throw you out of Alaric's life" she said to Kyree in a tone only the two of them could hear.

Kyree's head was immediately covered in red. Why should she be the one that is thrown out? When the person to be thrown out still remained?

Carried away in rage she turned around swiftly to lash out at Regina. The speed at which she turned with ended up causing Regina who was standing at the edge of the step to loose her footing. It had clearly been a mistake but to the crowd it appeared she had attacked Regina on purpose.

She was trying to take her life!

There was no one with a different conclusion than this. At that moment seeing Regina almost stumbling off the stairs, the crowd come to the conclusion that Kyree was out for her life.

On the other hand, Kyree had not expect she would bump into Regina causing her to stumble off the stair. Her hands moved faster than her mind could think and she grabbed unto Regina's collar trying her best to stop the girl from falling.

In her attempt to stop the falling girl, she herself lost her footing on the stairs. The two of them came tumbling down.

As her body made ceaseless impact with the cold tiles, the shocked faces of the gathering crowd was the last thing she gazed upon before she lost her consciousness.