A small, grim satisfaction settled in my stomach. I pictured Cornel Steele, Chadwick' s father, receiving the news. The arranged engagement, the carefully constructed alliance between our families' tech empires, shattered by his son' s blatant disregard. Cornel, a man who understood the delicate balance of power in Silicon Valley, would be seething. His empire, built on my mother' s investments, was now vulnerable. The thought was a tiny, cold comfort.
I turned on my heel, ready to walk away and put this pathetic display behind me. There was no point in standing here, enduring more of their poisonous words. I had made my statement.
"Oh no, you don' t!" Isa shrieked, her voice shrill with revived fury. She lunged, blocking my path, her eyes wild. "You think you can just drop an empty threat and walk away? Chadwick is here now! He' ll protect me!" She clung to Chadwick' s arm, her eyes wide and demanding.
"You attacked me! You stole my purchase!" Isa repeated, her voice rising to a hysterical pitch. "And now you' re trying to run? Not a chance, you little thief!"
I paused, looking at her, then at Chadwick, who merely scowled at me. "What is it you want, Isa?" I asked, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "Do you want to continue this charade, or are you just here to prove how desperate you are for attention?"
She scoffed, misinterpreting my calm as fear. "Desperate? I' m going to make you pay for humiliating me! Chadwick will stand by me, won' t you, darling?" She looked up at him, her eyes pleading for affirmation. Chadwick, ever the peacock, puffed out his chest a little, a possessive hand settling on her waist.
"You' re going to regret crossing Isa," Chadwick growled, his voice low and menacing.
Isa took that as her cue. She snatched her hand from Chadwick' s arm, her frustration boiling over. "I' m going to teach you a lesson, you pathetic little bitch!" she snarled, her hand raised, ready to strike. "I' m going to make you scream! I' m going to hit you until I feel good about myself!"
Her hand shot out, but this time, I was ready. My vision narrowed, focusing only on her outstretched arm. My hand moved like lightning, catching her wrist in mid-air. Her momentum, her intent to strike, was instantly halted.
Isa gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She struggled, trying to pull her arm free, but my grip was like steel. A cold, hard resolve had settled over me. She wanted a fight? She had one.
Without a second thought, I twisted her wrist, not with brute force, but with precise, calculated pressure on a joint. A sharp crack echoed in the suddenly silent mall. Isa let out a choked cry, her face contorting in agony. Her hand instinctively went limp, paralyzed by the sudden, excruciating pain.
"That' s for calling me a bitch," I said, my voice dangerously low.
Before she could fully process the first strike, I released her wrist only to grab her other arm, twisting it behind her back. Another sharp crack, followed by another scream, this one louder, more visceral. Her body arched, her eyes bulging with pain and disbelief.
"And that," I continued, my voice still unnervingly calm, "is for trying to hit me." I held her there, twisted and vulnerable. "Is that enough, Isa? Or do you want to keep going?"
Her face, once a mask of arrogant triumph, was now a crumpled mess of tears and snot. Her perfectly styled hair was disheveled, her expensive clothes askew. Her boasts of family power, her threats against the sales associate, all dissolved into whimpers of pain. She wasn' t looking at me with anger anymore, but with sheer terror.
She pulled away, stumbling backward, desperately seeking refuge behind Chadwick. She hid herself, trembling, her face buried in his expensive suit jacket.
Chadwick, his face a thundercloud of fury, stepped forward, shielding Isa with his body. He glared at me, his eyes promising retribution. "You psychotic bitch!" he roared. "You think you can get away with this? You just assaulted my fiancée! I will make sure you never work in this industry again! I will make sure you regret the day you were born!"
He gestured to the two burly men in dark suits who had emerged from the limousine' s front seats, his personal security detail. "Grab her! Teach her a lesson she' ll never forget!"
The two men, built like brick walls, moved with a terrifying efficiency. My heart pounded, but my resolve remained. I had unleashed the beast, and now, I had to face the consequences.
