The words cut into me again. I opened my mouth to explain, but before I could get a single syllable out, someone threw a glass of champagne straight at my face. "You're a disgrace to women everywhere. Are there no single men left? You had to go after someone who's taken?"
The alcohol hit my open mouth. I choked, gasping, unable to speak, coughing so violently my ribs ached.
Then someone else followed suit, splashing another glass across my face.
"Homewreckers deserve to die."
After that it was one glass after another. Some drenched my chest. Some poured over the top of my head.
Someone grabbed my jaw, pried my mouth open, and kept pouring liquor down my throat.
I was the one being humiliated, branded a mistress, brutalized in front of everyone. And Valerie, the real other woman, was nestled in Adam's arms, laughing like she'd never been happier.
I couldn't even cry out that I was innocent before they shoved me to the ground. When the drinks ran out, they used their fists. Their shoes.
There it was. The thing I'd feared most had finally come.