A woman accused me of being a mistress, tore my clothes, pinned me to the ground, and slapped me across the face.
In a panic, I grabbed an elegant socialite nearby and pleaded for help:
Call the police! I don't even know her husband!
But to my shock, the woman slapped me too:
Chloe, you hooked up with your best friend's boyfriend seven years ago, and now you're a mistress again? Can't you ever change your ways?
That's when I realized the elegant woman was my mother, Victoria, with whom I hadn't spoken in seven years.
Mom continued to scold me:
"Apologize now! Swear you'll never be a mistress again! Then I'll let you be the Sterling heiress again!"
I looked up at her undisguised disgust and disappointment, but I insisted:
"I didn't do anything wrong."
Not seven years ago, and certainly not today.
As for being the Sterling heiress, I stopped caring about that a long time ago

My defiance earned me another slap.
This one hit harder, far more brutal than the other woman's.
My ears rang, and my mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.
Yet, I clearly heard Mom's voice, laced with ice:
"Are you saying it's glorious to be a mistress by not apologizing? How could I have given birth to such a shameless daughter?
"If I'd known I'd run into you today, I wouldn't have left the house. What bad luck!"
My ex-best friend, Seraphina Hayes, who had been watching the drama unfold, promptly came forward, supporting Mom and gently patting her chest to help her calm down:
"Foster Mom, maybe Chloe had no choice but to do this scandalous business... Don't get so worked up, it's not worth getting sick over!"
She then turned to the cheated wife, Brenda, and apologized:
"Ma'am, please don't worry. With my foster mom and me here, she'll never bother your husband again. Pick any bag you like in this store; I'll buy it as an apology on her behalf"
I cut her off coldly:
"I'm not a mistress, and I don't need your fake apologies!"
Seraphina's eyes instantly welled up, tears threatening to spill:
"Chloe, you don't still believe that in love, the one who isn't loved is the real 'other woman,' do you?
"If I'd known you were so obsessed, I should've just let you have Marcus back then, no matter how much it hurt"
She shouldn't have brought up the past. The moment she did, Mom exploded like dynamite, her voice sharp and piercing:
"Are all the men in the world dead? You just have to go after a married man?"
In just a few words, the two of them exposed my shameful past to everyone.
"So she's a repeat offender! Seven years ago, she was already a mistress, backstabbing her best friend. How despicable!"
"Even her own mother can't stand it! How does she have the nerve to live to this day?"
"If you ask me, everyone should post this repeat offender online! Who knows how many other families she's broken up!"
When they want to blame you, any excuse will do.
With my own mother as a witness, the accusation of me being a mistress was sealed.
Everyone pulled out their phones, snapping photos of my exposed body and my face.
Some people, who had already recorded videos of me being beaten, were preparing to upload the content online.
Seraphina suddenly knelt on the ground, crying, begging everyone to stop filming.
"Please, give my best friend another chance! My foster mom and I will definitely take her home and educate her properly, ensuring she won't make the same mistake again!
"With the internet as it is, if she's exposed like this, she'll be shamed for life"
Brenda immediately flared up again:
"If she knew what it meant to be shamed, she wouldn't have tried to seduce my husband!
"You two aren't in this together, are you? Both of you dressed so provocatively, maybe you all have to sell yourselves to shop here!"
Mom and Seraphina were implicated, and their eyes burned with a hatred that wished to tear me to shreds.
Finally, Mom couldn't take it anymore. She turned and handed Brenda a business card and a credit card:
"Please delete any photos and videos that show my face or Seraphina's!
"As for her, we'll see how she behaves later"
Brenda was initially disdainful, but upon seeing "Victoria Sterling, CEO of Sterling Enterprises" emblazoned on the business card, her expression immediately changed.
"Oh, it's the renowned entrepreneur, Ms. Sterling!"
"It seems this whole thing might be a misunderstanding, I"
Brenda couldn't afford to offend Sterling Enterprises, and she couldn't fathom why Victoria Sterling's own daughter would become a mistress.
Her eyes full of confusion, she tried to help me up.
But Mom stopped her.



Brenda was dumbfounded:
"Ms. Sterling, wasn't that whole act just to get me to forgive her? I trust that with your strict discipline, she definitely won't make the same mistake again"
Mom, however, snorted coldly. Just like seven years ago, she condemned me without hearing my side: