At home, Cassie hosted a gathering to celebrate her Actress of the Year award, but her true intention was to flaunt her achievement to those she considered inferior.
Her "friends" showered her with praise, with Rosie saying, "You're still trending after a week! Is there anything you can't do?"
Rachel, a beauty influencer, added, "You're young, beautiful, and talented. No wonder men flock to you!"
Cassie basked in the attention, wearing a tiara, but her smile faltered when a careless maid approached her with champagne.
She discreetly tried to shoo the maid away, but Rachel noticed and encouraged Cassie to take a drink.
Cassie declined, breaking into a nervous sweat. "Just a sip of champagne won't hurt, right?" Rosie pressed, raising her glass. The others followed suit, waiting for Cassie to join in.
Cassie's frustration grew. 'What a pain in the ass! These classless swine have no idea who they're talking to! If I drink, all my hard work would be for nothing!' she thought, referring to the child she planned to use to ensnare Ethan, the city's richest man.
To her, it made no sense that someone like Brooke had landed a man like Ethan, just because she interned at his company.
It should've been her, having a rich man dote on her.
Just then, Brooke descended the stairs, holding onto the railing for support.
Cassie seized the opportunity, loudly welcoming Brooke and diverting attention from her own discomfort.
Brooke frowned as Cassie dragged her across the room, despite her barely able to stand without her cane.
Cassie quickly pinched her, forcing Brooke to straighten up, and whispered menacingly, "Do as I say, or I'll get Ethan to teach you another lesson."
Brooke fearfully complied, fearing another tormenting night of her husband's abuse.
Cassie pushed her onto a pillow and handed her the glass of champagne.
"Here! You take the first sip!" she exclaimed, ignoring Brooke's obvious hunger.
Cassie had witnessed Brooke's struggles the previous night to get food. But instead of offering held, she callously brushed past her, trying to push her down the stairs.
At the sight of Brooke, her friends all exchanged confuse glances.
"Who is this woman?" Eva, an aspiring actress who had worked with Cassie on a drama asked. Her concerns mainly on the visible purple marks on her arms and face.
Cassie plastered a smile, "She's the wife of one of the drivers. I pitied the poor thing and always help her out the best I can." She said, fishing for sympathy.
"Oh my! How considerate of you!" Rosie spat out, starting the shower of praise.
Rachel followed up, "Good things always happen to good people."
Eva shook her head, "Some men are worse than trash! How could anyone do this to a human being?!" The other women nodded in agreement, appalled by the sight.
Brooke stifled a laugh. Their oh so considerate host was rolling in the sheets with such a monster.
Not that any of these women were any different. Not one of them had offered to help her and just continued singing Cassie's praises, acting like they gave a damn.
"Come on, drink up! I won't tell your husband," Cassie urged, her friends echoing her encouragement. But Brooke, weakened by hunger and abuse, struggled to hold the glass. It slipped from her grasp, shattering on the pink rug beneath her.
Cassie's reaction was swift and cruel. "You idiot! That's expensive!" She slapped Brooke, sending her tumbling to the ground. Brooke's face reddened from the impact, and Cassie's friends gasped in shock.
But Cassie quickly recovered, flashing a confident smirk. "Don't look at me like that, ladies. We must teach these people a lesson sometimes." She gestured to the rug. "It's a rare gift from a fan, very expensive."
Her friends, initially appalled, soon warmed up to Cassie's justification. Rachel laughed. "You're right, a little discipline goes a long way." Rosie chuckled in agreement.
Brooke, however, seethed with contempt, thinking, "They're all mindless followers, unable to think for themselves."
Fortunately, while on the ground she noticed Cassie's phone sticking out from under the pillow. In one swift move, she slipped it into her shirt, then tried getting up.
"Where the hell are you going-" Right in the middle of her sentence, Cassie was cut short by the sound of heavy blades fanning from above. It carried the wind around the area, and forced all the guards out of their posts.
"Ma'am!" A maid came running inside, "A helicopter! There's a helicopter on the roof!"
Cassie widened her eyes, "What?!"
Brooke didn't know what was happening, but she sniffed an opportunity. No one was paying her any attention, she could slip out and no one would notice.
"Cassie, you didn't say you had more guests coming. Who? Who is it?" Rachel's eyes sparked with curiosity.
Meanwhile Cassie was panicked. She didn't know anyone who owned a private helicopter. Maybe it was a friend of her father?
"Ah, yes! I think I have another guest coming in." Cassie lied through her teeth, not wanting to lose face in front of these women. After all, her career was built up by throwing bones at these fame hungry scavengers.
"Yeah, I remember now! It's a special guest of mine!" She announced, getting up to go greet the mystery guest.
The women gawked in awe.
"So wonderful."
"That's Cassie Crane for you!"
"I wonder who it is?"
Nervously, Cassie went out to go see who it was that came all the way here in a helicopter just to see her.
Meanwhile, Brooke crawled her way to the garden exit, but just as she was about to make it out, she started to lose consciousness.
"Damn it! Not now! I'm almost there! Almost-" Brooke's eyes fell on a pair of black shoes standing in front of her.
She raised her weary gaze to the blurry figure towering over her, his build was too tall to be her step father's and his shoulders were too broad to be Ethan's.
"W-Who are you?" Was the last thing she asked right before losing consciousness at his feet.