"Well, well, well," Solrine said, stepping onto the restaurant patio. "Melvine, is it?"
Both David and Melvine spun around, their faces draining of color.
"Solrine?" David's voice cracked. "What are you doing here?"
"Following you, actually. Thought you were the one who ruined my life." She kept walking toward Melvine, her steps measured and deliberate. "Turns out I had the wrong target."
Melvine backed against the restaurant's front window, her eyes wide with terror. "I... I can explain—"
"Oh, please do." Solrine stopped just a few feet away. "Explain how you thought destroying my reputation would somehow win you a man who's never looked twice at you."
The remaining customers on the patio were staring now, sensing drama. A few had their phones out.
"I never meant for it to go this far," Melvine stammered. "I just wanted—"
"You wanted what? To play God? To decide who deserves happiness?"
David stepped between them. "Sol, let me handle this."
"Handle it?" Solrine's laugh was sharp. "You've been handling it, David. That's what I just watched. And where did that get us?"
She turned back to Melvine. "So tell me, genius. What was your master plan? Ruin my life, and David would just... fall into your arms?"
"I thought..." Melvine's voice was barely a whisper. "I thought if people saw what you were really like, David would realize—"
"What I was really like?" Solrine's voice rose. "Having consensual sex with my boyfriend makes me what, exactly?"
More people were gathering now. Passersby had stopped to watch the confrontation unfold.
"You don't understand," Melvine said desperately. "I've loved him for years. Years! I watched you break his heart over and over, and I couldn't stand it anymore."
"So you committed a crime."
"I was trying to protect him!"
"By humiliating him too? By posting a video of him without his consent?"
Melvine's face crumpled. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I was angry and hurt and—"
"And selfish," Solrine finished. "Don't forget selfish."
"I know I made a mistake—"
"A mistake?" Solrine's control finally snapped. "A MISTAKE?"
Her hand connected with Melvine's cheek in a sharp slap that echoed across the patio.
"Sol, no!" David grabbed her arm, but she shook him off.
"You cost me my job!" Another slap, harder this time. The sound carried across the entire block.
Melvine stumbled backward, one hand pressed to her reddening cheek. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't fix anything!" Solrine advanced on her, and Melvine dropped to her knees on the concrete, sobbing.
"Please," Melvine whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I'm begging you—"
"Begging me?" Solrine grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her violently. "Where was this remorse when you were uploading that video? Where was this guilt when you were watching my life fall apart?"
The crowd was growing larger now. People were stepping out of shops, crossing the street to get a better view. Phones were everywhere, recording every moment.
"I wasn't thinking!" Melvine sobbed. "I was angry and jealous and—"
"Jealous of what? Of a relationship that was already over? Of a man who never wanted you in the first place?"
"Solrine, please!" David tried to get between them again. "This isn't helping anything!"
"Helping?" Solrine spun to face him. "You want to know what would help? If your little stalker here had minded her own damn business!"
"She's not my—"
"Isn't she?" Solrine's eyes narrowed. "How long have you known about her feelings, David? How long have you been letting her pine after you?"
David's silence was answer enough.
"You knew," Solrine said flatly. "You knew she was obsessed with you, and you did nothing to stop it."
"I thought it was harmless—"
"Harmless?" Solrine gestured wildly at Melvine, still kneeling and rocking back and forth. "Look at her! Look what your 'harmless' little admirer did!"
The restaurant manager was on his phone now, probably calling the police. Several people in the crowd were shouting for someone to break up the fight.
"I never encouraged her," David protested. "I barely knew she existed until—"
"Until she destroyed my life to get your attention. Congratulations, David. It worked."
Melvine looked up from where she knelt, mascara streaking down her cheeks. "I know I can't undo what I did. But I can try to make it right. I have savings—I can compensate you somehow."
"Compensate me?" Solrine crouched down to Melvine's level, her voice deadly quiet. "You think this is about money?"
"I... I don't know what else to do."
"Here's what you're going to do." Solrine grabbed Melvine's chin, forcing her to look up. "You're going to post a public confession. You're going to tell everyone exactly what you did and why. You're going to clear my name."
"I can't," Melvine whispered. "My business... my reputation..."
"Your reputation?" Solrine's voice rose to a shout. "YOUR REPUTATION?"
She stood up abruptly and kicked at the chair beside Melvine, sending it clattering across the patio.
"You can't be serious right now. You destroyed mine, but yours is too precious to sacrifice?"
David stepped forward again. "Sol, I've been trying to reach you for weeks. I've been calling, texting—"
"To tell me what? That you didn't do it? Why should I believe anything you say?"
"Because I loved you!" David's voice broke. "Because I would never hurt you like that, no matter how angry I was!"
"But you'd let someone else do it?"
"I didn't know!" He ran his hands through his hair frantically. "I swear to God, I had no idea what she was planning."
Melvine was still crying, clutching at David's legs now like a child. "Please don't leave me. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I love you, David. I've always loved you."
"I wasn't stalking him," she continued desperately. "I was just... I worked at the coffee shop near his office. I made sure to be there when he came in. I learned his schedule, his favorite order..."
"That's literally stalking," Solrine said flatly.
"I was being supportive! I listened when he talked about you, about how you hurt him—"
"So you decided to hurt me back."
"I thought he deserved better!"
"That wasn't your call to make!"
David looked down at Melvine with something like pity. "I know you think you love me. But this isn't love, Melvine. This is something else entirely."
"It is love!" Melvine insisted. "I've spent years caring about you, thinking about you—"
"You've spent years obsessing over me," David corrected gently. "There's a difference."
Sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer. Someone had definitely called the police.
"You're still hoping he'll forgive you," Solrine realized, looking at Melvine's desperate expression. "You're still hoping this ends with him choosing you."
Melvine's silence confirmed it.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Solrine shook her head in amazement. "You think love is about possession. About eliminating competition."
She crouched down again, meeting Melvine's tear-filled eyes. "That's not love. That's obsession. And the fact that you can't tell the difference is exactly why you'll never have what you want."
"We can fix this," David said desperately to Solrine. "I'll help you clear your name. I'll make sure everyone knows the truth."
"Will you?" Solrine looked at him skeptically. "Even if it means destroying her?"
David's hesitation was answer enough.
"Right. Because even now, even after everything she's done, you can't stand to see a woman in pain."
The police cars were pulling up now, flashing lights reflecting off the restaurant windows. David was already moving toward the officers.
"I have to go," Solrine said, backing toward the street.
"Wait!" David called after her. "We need to talk about this properly!"
"What happens next is you figure out how to clean up your girlfriend's mess."
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"No? Then what is she?"
David looked down at Melvine, still clinging to his legs, still sobbing. His expression was unreadable.
"I don't know," he said finally.
"Well, you better figure it out fast."
Solrine pushed through the crowd, ignoring the cameras and questions being shouted at her. She could hear David calling her name, could hear Melvine's continued sobbing, but she didn't look back.
As she reached her truck, her phone was already buzzing with notifications. The videos were probably uploading already.
By tomorrow, she'd be the villain again. The context would be lost. The truth would be buried under sensational headlines.
But as she drove away, leaving the chaos behind, Solrine realized something important: she didn't regret confronting Melvine.
For the first time since this nightmare began, she'd fought back.
Even if it destroyed her completely, at least she'd gone down swinging.