Elena, realizing she was losing Julian and her reputation simultaneously, suddenly found her fangs again.

She whipped around, her eyes blazing with feral, cornered desperation.

“Do you honestly think you’ve won?” she shrieked, all pretense of elegance abandoned.

“Look at you! You’re a bitter, frigid shell of a woman! Daniel still loves me! Men like him don’t stay with pathetic, invisible women like you!”

I laughed.

It was a genuine, melodic sound that seemed to disturb her more than my anger.

“Oh, Elena. You still don’t understand the math,” I replied with a pitying shake of my head. “Men like Daniel don’t have the capacity for love. Men like Daniel only stay with the women who fund their delusions.”