Priscilla had been crying her heart out at my bedside, her face a mess of tears.
"Margery, you took that knife for me. From now on, every storm in your life, I'll shield you from it."
I laughed at that, a hollow, bitter sound, then lifted my hand and slapped her across the face.
"This protection of yours means betraying my father and asking me to be the mistress between you and my fiancé?"
"Priscilla, I really do regret not letting that knife finish you off."
Priscilla's face went a shade paler, her eyes rimming red in an instant.
Clay shot up from his seat and shoved me hard.
He pulled her into his arms and said in a frozen voice,
"Margery. Apologize."
"I won't! The ones who should be apologizing are the two of you—a man and woman with no shame!"
Clay's expression sank completely. He sneered.
"Margery, you really are spoiled rotten by your father. That's fine. I'll teach you how to grow up."
"Now get out. Don't keep me from comforting my Priscilla."
I stumbled out of the office tower in a daze and tilted my head up at the company sign.
When my parents started the business, I'd just been born.
They named the company Avalon, hoping it would keep me safe and happy for the rest of my life.
Two short words, brimming with all the love they had for their daughter.
But now, Avalon was gone.
The new name that had replaced it was 'Southbound.'
Clay returning to Priscilla, racing toward the one he loved.
Five years of pouring out my heart, nothing more than Clay's calculated revenge.
Even the company my father had built with his own hands had become a prop for them to flaunt their love.
I dialed a string of numbers.
"Hello. I agree to marry you. This week, I'll fly to Harbor City and we'll have the wedding."
"I don't need any betrothal gift. I only need you to do me one favor."
Not wanting to go back to that empty house, I drove to the cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
But the moment I arrived, I found a crowd hurling paint and eggs all over my father's headstone.
They were livestreaming on their phones, faces blazing with righteous outrage.
"Folks, we found that dirty old creep's grave!"
"Lucky bastard, dying this early. But that doesn't mean he gets off easy. Justice comes late, but it always comes!"
Only then did I see that both my father and I had been dragged into the trending headlines.
There were photos of my father kindly giving Priscilla money to pay for her family's medical treatment.
And of me slapping Priscilla in the office.
At the time, Priscilla had wept with gratitude, swearing she'd repay my father. I remembered it clearly—my father said there was no need, that it was hard enough for a young person making her way in the world.
But now it had been twisted into my father using his wealth to tear apart a loving couple, coercing and threatening a young woman into giving herself to him.
Even the red, swollen rims of Priscilla's eyes had been recast as the look of someone too afraid to speak her anger, swallowing her grief.
They were praising Clay as a hero who'd endured humiliation for years and finally made his name, taking back the woman he loved.
Praising him for the clever new name he'd given the company.
And my father had become a piece of human filth, someone everyone wanted to beat down.
Messages kept flooding into my phone.
All from the elders who'd once been close to my father, and from friends in the same circle, wanting to confirm whether it was true.
But I couldn't spare a hand to answer, because that man was shouting in excitement.
"Folks, you wanna see this dirty old pervert wiped off the face of the earth?!"
"Send five hundred Sky-Piercing Arrows and us brothers will dig up his ashes right now and pour piss all over them!"
"Ten more thirties! A vicious old animal like this who preyed on women—can we let him rest in peace after death? He doesn't deserve it! Push harder, folks!"
Enough. That was really enough!
I couldn't listen to another word. Just as I was about to charge over, someone yanked me back hard.
Clay, with several bodyguards trailing behind him.
He looked at me, his brow knotted.
"Are you out of your mind? Those are men with their blood up. Who do you think you can stop? Going over there will only get you hurt for nothing!"
