Chapter 1 Betrayal

Up on the massive screen, a couple of birthday suits were all tangled up, getting hot and heavy, and the surround sound was blasting every single moan and breath.

The lady had curves for days and her skin was mad smooth.

Then both their faces popped up on the screen.

Isabella Sorenson was freaking frozen, staring up at that screen like she'd just been punched in the gut. Her heart was breaking, and she felt all sorts of numb.

That dude and chick getting cozy on the screen were none other than her main squeeze Zachary Winslow and her best friend Scarlett Pearson.

And no joke, they were both right there next to her because today was supposed to be Isabella and Zachary's engagement party.

Just a second before, that screen was showing cute throwbacks of Zachary and Isabella growing up, while some dude was talking all mushy about it. It went from little Isabella at three to Zachary at seven, and then instead of more childhood pictures, the screen switched to their live sesh.

"Ah!" Scarlett let out a scream like she'd been stabbed or something and threw her arms around Zachary.

Now, if anybody was still clueless about who was up on that screen, everything was out in the open. While Isabella was stuck on the spot, Zachary was hugging Scarlett.

The whole place exploded with whispers and gasps.

"Yo, ain't that Isabella's ride-or-die?" one guest whispered.

"Seriously, Ms. Sorenson got played?" chimed in another.

"Yo, check out that bod!" somebody else hollered.

"What's going on?" Nathan Ingram was freaking out, trying to cover up the screen, but he was like pushing six feet, and this screen was enormous. He looked straight-up silly trying to block it.

Terence Winslow, Zachary's father, was beet red but he bolted toward the control room to turn off the screen.

Scarlett, her eyes leaking like a faucet, hit Isabella with the puppy dog eyes. "Isabella, didn't you pinky swear to let this go? I promised I'd ditch Zachary and bounce from this town the second you got that ring. Why you gotta blast this now? You tryna wreck me?"

When Scarlett clung to Zachary, he looked kinda red-faced but went total wide-eyes the second she talked about getting kicked out by Isabella. Holding Scarlett, he asked, "What are you saying, Scarlett? Isabella forced you to leave?"

It was as if a bomb had detonated within Isabella's mind, leaving her stunned and disoriented. She stared blankly at Zachary, her childhood sweetheart. Ever since she could remember, Isabella knew she'd spend the rest of her life with Zachary.

'When did he and Scarlett become a thing? And when did I ever agree to not pursue this matter? What's going on here? What are they talking about?' Isabelle wondered.

"How could you be so vicious, setting up your own fiancé and best friend?" Zachary's sister, Megan Winslow, shoved Isabella on the shoulder.

Isabella, in a daze, didn't see that coming and staggered backward until she ended up right beside Nathan.

Nathan was filled with fury. Raising his hand, he slapped her in the face. "Look at what you've done! You've brought disgrace upon both our families!"

Before Isabella could even regain her balance, she was knocked to the ground by the slap.

Zachary grew anxious and instinctively wanted to help her up, but Scarlett tightened her grip on his arm.

Isabella turned and caught a glance of the smugness in Scarlett's eyes.

"How can you hit your child? Come on, get up, Isabella." A voice was heard as a pair of hands helped Isabella to her feet.

Terence sighed, "Isabella, don't blame your father. What you did was really out of line."

Lorelai Winslow, Zachary's mom, pointed at Scarlett and said, "Where did you come from? You must have seduced my son. Get out of here! I'll never let you become part of our family!"

Scarlett hid behind Zachary like a scared puppy.

Zachary positioned himself protectively in front of Scarlett, his voice firm as he addressed his mother. "Mom, don't blame Scarlett. Isabella, she's your best friend. You can't push her to the brink like this!"

With Terence's support, Isabella finally got back to her feet. A solitary tear traced its path down her cheek. As she gazed up at Zachary, the man she had loved for most of her life, she realized he had become a stranger in the blink of an eye.

'Scarlett's supposed to be my best friend. He knows that. They play me and now it's my bad?' she thought.

"Isabella, I can't even with you. Zach, how can you tie the knot with her? After you're hitched, who knows what stories she'll spin? Can't trust her. Not one bit!" Megan was throwing shade at Isabella before turning to Zachary, all concerned.

Megan had been in the same class as Isabella back in high school, but they never really hit it off. Megan always teamed up with Yvonne Ingram to give Isabella a hard time. Plus, Megan wasn't thrilled about Isabella becoming part of her family.

"Zip it! Isabella is the eldest daughter of the esteemed Sorenson family. And who's that chick? Does she possess the same standing as Isabella? How could the Winslow family be cool with letting just anyone in?" Lorelai snapped off, not realizing she was pretty loud.

Lorelai wasn't Isabella's number one fan, but she was all about that social ladder. Having Isabella marry in was like a major level-up for Zachary. No other high-class family had a daughter that could touch Isabella's status. Plus, Isabella was the kind of person one could sway pretty easy.

So yeah, Lorelai had to make it crystal clear—they couldn't let Isabella slip away.

At first, Isabella kind of felt thankful to her future mother-in-law for stepping up, but then it hit her why she really did it.

"Yes! Isabella, you're the eldest daughter of the Sorenson family. You should consider the reputations of the Sorenson family, the Ingram family, and the Winslow family before doing this!" Yvonne chimed in, looking all stressed.

"Isabella, you've just crushed your dad. His heart's in pieces," Winona said, sounding all sweet but sad.

Winona and Yvonne dropping those lines just made Nathan and Terence pull grumpier faces. 'She's gotta grow up. Can't be airing our dirty laundry like this!' they thought.