Silvia turned to the group of overweight men who'd been eyeing me like starving dogs the whole time.
At her signal, the business partner handed me her phone.
The moment I got it, I called my friend and begged her to get money here within thirty minutes.
The minutes crawled by. Ten minutes left.
Silvia couldn't wait any longer. She stood up.
"God, I'm such an idiot. I actually believed this bitch? Like her pathetic little friend is going to show up with money?"
"Exactly! She's just stalling."
"Manager, have your guys break her arms and legs first. Nobody's stupid enough to cross the Gilbert family by helping her. Stop wasting time."
The manager and his security guards moved toward me, faces twisted with menace. I raised my hand to stop them.
"Hold on. I still have ten minutes."
"When those ten minutes are up, someone will be here with the money."
Silvia laughed. "Bullshit. When those ten minutes are up—hell, I'll give you an extra ten—if nobody shows up with cash, I'll get on all fours and crawl out of here like a dog with my tail between my legs."
My eyes lit up. "You said it. Remember that."
"Yeah, I said it. So what? Everyone here is my witness."
The room erupted. "Ha! This is too good. I'm not going home tonight."
"Who knew dinner would come with a show?"
The ten minutes were almost up. One of the fat men couldn't wait anymore and reached over to grope me.
"Don't touch me!" I slapped his hand away.
"Heh heh heh. Those curves, that body—I don't even need to touch to know it's good."
"Mr. Gilbert, why don't you just give her to me?"
Harry drained his wine in one smooth gulp, toying with the lighter in his hand.
"Why not? If she can't pay, you can do whatever you want with her."
"Ha! Then I'm going first."
Everyone was certain I couldn't pay. They stopped caring whether I wanted this or not and started closing in.
My voice went cold enough to kill, but those rich bastards didn't give a damn.
Silvia shot a look at Harry's bodyguards, smirking.
"Hold her down. Pin her so those pigs can have their fun."
"Yes, ma'am." The bodyguards surged toward me, surrounding me completely.
I looked at Harry. My heart turned to ice.
We were still married—on paper, at least. And he was letting other men put their hands on me. This was his face being trampled too.
But he didn't care. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not helping you."
"I just want Silvia to feel better."
With Harry's blessing, the pigs started hollering.
"Come with me, beautiful!"
"I've got money—I can pay your bill!"
"No, no, come with me. I've got more money than him, and I'm thinner too."
They ordered the bodyguards to hold me down while their hands tore at my clothes.
I fought back with everything I had. The men just laughed.
I memorized every single face. "You think this is funny? I'm about to make all of you the joke."
"And you."
Silvia spat at me. "Rip her dress off. Time's up. No more stalling—"
Before she could finish, the doors burst open.
Men in black suits poured into the room—professional, precise, brutal. They cut through the bodyguards surrounding me, taking them down one by one.
Right behind him came Caroline Kaufman, the most powerful banker in Cresthaven.
She strode in carrying a briefcase, her face set in an expression of absolute gravity.
"Miss Henson, I've brought the money. I trust I'm not late?"
