The moment those words left my mouth, I turned to leave.
But Abigail wouldn't let it go.
She grabbed my suitcase and slammed it onto the ground.
I stared at her, disbelief written across my face. She'd actually smashed my suitcase. And she wasn't done. She stepped forward and kicked it hard.
I tried to stop her, but Abigail ordered the people with her to pin me down. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't break free.
She looked down at me, her eyes dripping with contempt.
Then she kicked through the clothes in my suitcase, tossing them onto the ground one by one, until she spotted the jar at the bottom.
The second I saw her reach for it, my blood ran cold.
"Abigail, don't touch that jar!" I screamed.
She didn't even flinch. She snatched it up and shook it right in front of my face, hard and deliberate.
My heart seized.
That was when Toby appeared, right on her heels.
"Toby, don't let her touch that jar!" I shouted at him, my voice cracking. "What's inside is tied to the Henson family's lifeline!"
Every ounce of breath I had went into that warning.
But Abigail's answer was a swift kick to my side. Pain tore through me, and the color drained from my face.
Even then, I kept my eyes locked on Toby. I needed him to understand. That jar held something vital to his family.
Abigail heard me and let out a cold laugh.
Then she raised the jar high above her head.
In the next instant, she hurled it to the ground.
The jar shattered on impact. Copper coins scattered across the floor, spinning and rolling in every direction. My expression had already changed the moment it left her hands.
Abigail glanced at the coins, then turned on her heel. "I thought it was something important."
"A bunch of worthless old coins, and you were guarding them like treasure!"
She walked away without a backward glance. Toby gave the coins on the floor one disgusted look and moved to follow her.
I stood frozen in place, staring at the wreckage.
Only I knew what that broken jar meant.
Those coins held the Henson family's financial fortune. Boyd had always treated me decently, so even after I'd been thrown out, I'd kept the jar safe. My plan had been simple: wait for Boyd to come back and hand it over to him. That way, even if the Hensons' business hit rough waters, they wouldn't go under.
But now the jar was shattered, and I knew with absolute certainty that everything had changed.
"The Hensons are going to go bankrupt," I murmured, staring at the coins strewn across the floor.
I shook my head. Abigail and Toby had been the ones to break it. It had nothing to do with me anymore.
Toby had been walking away, but he stopped mid-step. He turned back. "Celine, what did you just say?"
"Toby, the coins in that jar held your family's financial luck." I met his gaze without wavering. "The jar is broken now. Your family won't be able to hold on to its wealth."
I glanced between him and Abigail as I said it.
Toby's face went dark, his jaw tight with barely contained fury.
Then he fixed me with a frigid stare. "Celine, you think I don't know what you're trying to do?"
