I felt exposed and couldn’t understand why Matthew acted so boldly. He wouldn’t be this relentless if he didn’t have leverage. I knew him well and had experienced his deceit.

Nonetheless, I was even more shocked that Atlas seemed to care little about my dignity. I looked at him disapprovingly and uttered one word, “Shameless!”

I directed it toward Atlas and Matthew. Immediately after, I turned away to escape the chaos.

"Stop right there! Don't you want to see it too?" Matthew continued to taunt me. He smirked and continued, "It won’t be entertaining if you leave."

Stella took my arm to seemingly diffuse the situation. She smiled and said, "Chloe, this is all my fault. I didn’t know you two were talking and disrupted your conversation."

I glanced at her hand gripping my arm and knew she didn’t want me to leave. She didn’t want to resolve the situation—instead, she wanted to worsen it.

Loira emerged from the crowd to look at us with curiosity and annoyance. She glanced at Stella, t