Maximilian made a point of avoiding Isabel’s gaze, then shot Ruby a warning look before heading to the study. Even when Isabel begged him with her eyes, he acted like she wasn’t there—punishing her for what he thought she’d done: tried to provoke Kayleigh with that spiced honey cake.
Ruby smirked, and David and Lydia laughed with her. Sharp. Cruel. The kind of laugh meant to cut.
“Come join us, little assistant,” Kayleigh called sweetly, crooking a finger at Isabel.
But Isabel stayed rooted to the spot, her legs heavy as lead, buried under memories of the bullying she’d endured at the hands of these three.
“Well, if it isn’t Isabel—the belle of our college,” David mocked.
Kayleigh feigned surprise. “You two were classmates? Then play nice.”
Frozen in place, Isabel had only one thought: run.
“Kayleigh…” Isabel’s voice trembled. “I—I just remembered something urgent at home. I have to go…”
She spun around and tried to flee, but her legs buckled, sending her crashing to the floor.
“Let’s help our dear old classmate,” Ruby offered, already moving toward her.
God, Isabel wanted to run. She wanted it so badly. But her body locked up, paralyzed by the past these three represented.
“Can’t get up?” David sneered, grabbing her by the collar and yanking her to her feet. “The campus queen’s losing her nerve again?”
Isabel ducked her head. Her left ear throbbed with a pain she knew too well, her skin pulled tight as she struggled to break free.
There was no way out.
“Maximilian is marrying my sister. You’ve been sniffing around my brother-in-law. How’re you gonna explain that?” David taunted, slinging an arm around Isabel’s shoulders and steering her outside.
David lived for excuses to torment her. Freshman year, he’d chased her relentlessly. Back then, she hadn’t realized she’d caught the attention of a monster.
Rejecting him in public started the nightmare.
After that, David used her rejection as an excuse to strip her, take humiliating photos, burn her with cigarettes, and let Ruby and Lydia beat her. They locked her in a wooden box. Made her sleep in public restrooms…
If she refused, they threatened to get her kicked out of school—and to go after the kids at the orphanage.
She was the only kid from the orphanage to make it to college—their one beacon of hope. She couldn’t risk losing that.
So she swallowed her pride, no matter how much it hurt.
“Speak up!” Lydia kicked her, impatient. “Why so quiet? Maximilian doesn’t want you. Didn’t you hear? Cross us, and we’ll shut down that precious orphanage of yours!”
Lying in the grass, Isabel brushed dirt off her arms. She was supposed to meet Mr. Alexander tonight in this outfit… She’d wanted to make a good impression. That felt pointless now.
“Can’t speak or hear?” Lydia slapped her across the face.
A housekeeper passed by, saw everything, pretended she didn’t, and kept walking.
Everyone at the estate looked the other way while those three tore her apart.
Isabel didn’t beg. She didn’t plead. She just sat there, stubborn and defiant through every taunt and blow.
Once, David asked what she thought about while they hit her. Isabel never answered.
The truth? She thought about not living. About revenge. If she fought back, it wouldn’t be hard.
But every time, she thought of the orphanage kids. What would happen to them if she was gone?
The director had poured everything into Isabel, her only high achiever. Isabel couldn’t repay that by dying before she gave back.
Maximilian sent her money now and then—never much. He’d given her a supplementary card for personal use.
What did Isabel buy with it? A handbag over four thousand dollars—her most rebellious purchase ever.
While she studied, she worked three part-time jobs a day and sent every cent to the orphanage.
“Ugh, boring,” David complained, leaning against the wall to smoke.
Ruby glanced at him. “Maximilian doesn’t want her anymore, and you always have. Why not take your shot?”
David’s eyes flickered, but he sneered. “Who wants used goods?”
Isabel stood, ignored all three of them, and walked away.
“What the—? Is she asking for it?” Lydia, the hothead of the group, couldn’t stand Isabel’s attitude. Used to being treated like royalty, she lashed out and knocked Isabel into the estate’s decorative pool.
It was November in Newport. The water was freezing.
Isabel surfaced and wiped her face. Tears or pool water—she couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter.
“Had enough?”
Maximilian stepped out as things escalated.
Deep down, Isabel knew Maximilian wouldn’t step in with Kayleigh there. He knew those three would hurt her, but he wanted Kayleigh to feel safe, to erase her doubts.
For the woman he loved, Maximilian chose to sacrifice Isabel.
Kayleigh followed him out and looked at Isabel with practiced surprise. “Little assistant, how did you end up in the water?”
“She fell in by herself…” Lydia said, guilt bleeding through.
Isabel climbed out and met Maximilian’s gaze head-on. He said nothing.
“Sorry. I’ll go home…” Isabel gasped, desperate to get away.
“Isabel…” Maximilian called after her. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he instinctively stepped forward, then stopped himself for Kayleigh’s sake. “I’ll have the driver take you.”
Isabel glanced back at him one last time. A faint smile touched her lips. “No need.”
In that moment, she vowed it would be the last time she looked at Maximilian Riley with anything like love.
Watching her leave, soaked and broken, Maximilian felt a heavy weight settle in his chest. Regret whispered through him—though he didn’t understand why.
…
Riverview Villa.
Isabel couldn’t go home to change.
Lucky for her, Maximilian’s place wasn’t far from Mr. Alexander’s residence. Fifteen minutes later, she arrived.
She’d first met Mr. Alexander at Newport’s most exclusive club. That night, Maximilian was entertaining a businessman from Ireland—Mr. Alexander himself.
She was delivering a coat for Maximilian when she first laid eyes on Mr. Alexander.
His friends said Isabel was exactly his type.
Right in front of Maximilian, Mr. Alexander asked for her number. Maximilian didn’t object.
Maybe Mr. Alexander was an important client.
Later, Mr. Alexander asked her to dinner. She refused. Then he proposed a contract marriage—so terrifying that Isabel blocked him.
But now, Mr. Alexander was her only lifeline.
She wanted to marry. To escape Maximilian Riley and Newport. She needed Mr. Alexander’s influence, needed to grow stronger, to earn enough to support the orphanage kids.
