Next Man Better Plan novel Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Stephanie stumbled from the push.

He had come from behind, and the momentum sent the sharp edge of the glass she was holding digging into the palm of her hand.

A piercing pain, sharp as a needle to the heart, shot up her arm, making her wince.

Quennel shielded Victoria, looking at Stephanie with a helpless expression. “Stephanie, what are you doing? I didn’t invite Victoria here Can you please stop making a scene?”

Hearing this, Stephanie dropped the glass, her eyes red–rimmed. “Making a scene? Quennel, did you even hear what Victoria was just saying to me?”

Victoria shrank into Quennel’s arms, looking terrified. Her eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, as if she’d been terribly wronged.

“Don’t you dare accuse me of anything! What did I say? I just saw how good Quennel is to you, yet you’ve been sullen all evening, acting like he owes you something.

I told you to appreciate what you have, and you flew into a rage and attacked me!”

One was a helpless, innocent girl; the other, an aggressive, wealthy heiress.

People instinctively side with the underdog, and Victoria knew exactly how to play her

cards.

Better yet, her face was still swollen, the red mark from the slap serving as the perfect proof of Stephanie’s guilt. Victoria made a show of half–concealing her cheek, ensuring everyone could see it.

Stephanie’s gaze turned cold, her eyes filled with ice. “That’s right, I don’t appreciate him. But what business is it of yours to feel sorry for him?

Quennel is devoted to me, and if you don’t like it, you can lump it! As long as I’m his wife, you, Victoria, will always be the other woman, hiding in the shadows!”

Stephanie’s words were harsh, sparing neither Victoria nor Quennel.

But why should she care about his pride when he had already betrayed her?

What hurt more was that Quennel knew exactly what bothered her, knew how to wound her most deeply. He knew how much he meant to her after all the years they had spent

under the same roof.

Yet he chose to stand with Victoria, to gang up on her, trampling on her love to please his new flame, completely disregarding their years of history.

They had betrayed her. Together.

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Chapter 11

Her thoughts tangled like a chaotic mess, and the very air in the room felt suffocating.

She took a step back, her body hitting the cold hard wall. “The universe has a way of balancing things.,” she murmured, “those who betray a sincere heart won’t get away with

it.”

The warm air from the heater enveloped her, but Stephanie felt a chill deep in her bones. Her long lashes glistened as she looked down a single tear shimmering at the corner of

her eye.

Seeing her like this, Quennel felt an unexpected pang in his chest.

Realizing his tone had been too harsh, he reached out to touch her.

They had grown up together; he knew how strong she was.

When Mr. Jackson died in that car crash and her mother quickly remarried, leaving Stephanie alone in the vast Jackson family estate, she hadn’t shed a single tear.

The day he went to bring her home, he found her barefoot in a dark house, curled up in a small corner.

She was terrified, yet when he asked, “Do you want to come home with me?” she had lifted her delicate, porcelain face and answered with forced composure, “I’m not your promised bride.”

Of course she wasn’t. They had been engaged since they were children, and her family had died because of his. He owed her.

Quennel knew her mother’s remarriage had hit her hard, because she had been abandoned.