My husband’s mistress slapped me outside a restaurant while our twelve-year-old daughter watched, and instead of stopping her

At eight o'clock Sunday night, the side door of Evelyn Vance’s office clicked open.

Amber Lin walked in, looking entirely stripped of the glamour she had worn like armor two days prior. She was wearing plain gray sweatpants, an oversized hoodie, and cheap sneakers provided by the detention center. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and the swelling around her eyes suggested she had spent the last forty-eight hours sobbing on a steel cot.

She saw me sitting at the end of the long conference table and froze, her knuckles whitening around a paper cup of water.

"Sit down, Amber," Evelyn ordered, pointing to the empty chair across from us.

Amber dragged her feet, collapsing into the chair as if her bones were hollow. "Why did you bail me out?" she croaked, her voice hoarse. "After what I did to you... why are you helping me?"

"I’m not helping you," I said coldly, looking her dead in the eye. "I still despise what you did to my daughter and me. But I know Nathan Mercer better than anyone on this earth. And I know that right now, he is throwing you to the wolves so he can save his own skin."

Evelyn slid a thick legal folder across the dark mahogany table.

"Take a look," Evelyn said. "Nathan's criminal defense attorney submitted this draft statement to the district attorney this morning. In paragraph four, he claims that you stole his corporate credit cards, that you manipulated client billing without his knowledge, and that you acted independently in stalking and assaulting Mrs. Mercer."

Amber flipped through the pages, her breathing turning shallow and rapid. As she read Nathan’s sworn lies, a horrifying realization dawned on her features.

"He... he said I was an unhinged stalker?" she gasped, her hands trembling so violently the papers fluttered. "I gave up my entire career for him! I moved into that apartment because he told me we were getting married in December! He told me Claire was emotionally abusive and holding him hostage with their child!"

"He told you what you wanted to hear so you would run his dirty errands," I said. "And the moment the heat turned on, he threw you in the fire."

Amber buried her face in her hands, a jagged, choking sob escaping her chest. "He told me he loved me. He bought me a Cartier bracelet on Tuesday and promised we would fly to Bermuda as soon as the audit passed..."

"He’s using you, Amber," Evelyn stated bluntly. "Tomorrow morning at nine, Nathan is going before Judge Miller to demand full custody of Maddie, claiming Claire is unstable. At two in the afternoon, the federal grand jury will convene regarding the missing client trust funds. You have exactly one choice."

Amber lifted her red-rimmed eyes, terrified. "What choice?"

"You sign a comprehensive confession naming Nathan as the mastermind," Evelyn said, sliding a pen toward her. "You hand over every text message, every bank authorization, every recording you have of him directing the shell companies. In exchange, Mrs. Mercer will support a suspended sentence for your assault charge, and the state attorney will grant you full immunity as an unindicted co-conspirator."

Amber stared at the pen. The illusion of luxury, romance, and power had completely vanished, leaving behind the cold reality of impending prison.

"He called me crazy," Amber whispered, her voice hardening with venom. "He left me in that cell to rot."