Fiona rolled her wrist, every trace of sweetness stripped from her face like a mask torn off. "You heard everything. Blake already married me. And you're still clinging to him like some shameless parasite? Have you no dignity?"
"If you love being some man's free entertainment that badly, go find a street corner."
"Then again, a desperate little freebie who let herself get used for ten years—you're only fit to pair up with the gutter trash in the slums."
A ringing filled my skull. The world narrowed to the woman's vicious face, her mouth opening and closing, spitting poison.
Rage burned through me until it came out as a laugh. But Fiona didn't give me a chance to fight back. She let out a sudden shriek, clawed open the front of her gown, and threw herself backward.
"Theresa!"
The voice behind me was ice.
Blake rushed past me and caught Fiona, pulling her into his arms.
She collapsed against him, sobbing on cue, tears materializing from nowhere. "Blake, I'm the other woman. I'm the one who ruined things between you and Miss Sullivan. It's all my fault. I never should have shown up. I'm the horrible one."
Then she slapped herself across the face. Hard. Twice.