In the end, I'd been nothing but a clown. He'd sneered that I was no princess anymore, just a spoiled brat faking her wounds, making a scene nobody wanted to clean up.
But all I did was calmly wipe the blood away with a napkin, crack open a bottle of liquor, and press a soaked tissue against the cut.
A sharp sting burrowed from the wound into my bones, then deeper, into my heart.
It felt like rotten flesh being stripped away. A relief.
Everything was finally coming to an end.
"The woman you can't forget. I called her for you. It's your last night. Make it count."
The mocking expression on his face, the one braced for me to lose my mind or beg, froze solid.
No one around us dared breathe.
Victor shot to his feet, ready to demand what kind of stunt I was pulling now.
The next second, the door swung open and Alice Frost rushed in, tears streaming down her face, faint streaks of blood on her arm.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not here because I can't get over you. I came to make one thing clear: you're getting married, so stop dragging me into your life. I'm done being a pawn in your rich-people games!"
His expression softened instantly.
His gaze fell to her injured arm, full of anguish.
"What happened to you?!"
She yanked her arm back, fuming.
"None of your business!"
"If I don't look after you, who the hell will? I told you, I'll take care of you for the rest of my life. We're going to the hospital. Now."
He scooped her up and strode toward the door.
When he passed me, his steps faltered for a single beat.
"Don't think playing hard to get and acting generous is going to earn you one shred of guilt or affection from me."
"You brought this on yourself. This is what happens when you cling to something that was never yours."
He walked out without a backward glance.
Yes.
I brought it on myself. I fell for someone I never should have.
But he was hardly innocent.
When I'd asked to break off the engagement, he was the one who chose. Between inheriting the family empire under Christine Swanson's terms or cutting ties with the Swansons entirely, he chose the inheritance. He chose the arranged marriage.
A man without the spine to protect the woman he loved, yet too greedy to give up the wealth and status, so he used someone else as a shield.
He was just as despicable.
The noise and the crowd drained away around me.
I took a cab to the Swanson estate.
Christine sat sipping her nightly bird's nest soup, the picture of elegance. On the table beside her lay a check and a voluntary property-transfer agreement.
"Sign, and I'll give you half now. Once Victor and the Pemberton girl successfully register their marriage tomorrow, you'll get the other half."
I said nothing. This woman, who had once held my hand and whispered all those warm, intimate words, coaxing me to be her daughter-in-law, now looked down at me from above.
"Don't blame me for not helping your family back then. A mother can only do so much once her son's grown. Consider this money my compensation, given behind Victor's back, for the sake of what we once shared. It's enough for you and your family to live comfortably."
With that, she pulled her cashmere shawl tighter around her shoulders and glided upstairs.
The housekeeper showed me to the door.
The bitter wind cut straight to the bone.
She didn't need to explain. I'd always known she never intended to help us.
Back when our two families had been equals, our downfall was her opportunity to rise to the top. Compared to the gains of a marital alliance, swallowing the whole pie was far more tempting.
When I'd tried to call off the engagement, I mistook her pleas for sincerity.
That was how she used me. Under the guise of protecting me, standing up for me, she'd quietly turned Victor against me and targeted Alice, funneling all his rage in my direction.
She sat back and reaped every last benefit.
Too bad my entire family had been blind. By the time we saw her for what she was, it was far too late.
We no longer had the standing to confront her.
I drew a long breath.
My fingers tightened around the check.
At least money meant there was still hope.
I took a cab back to the apartment.
The moment I stepped through the door, I heard it. Arguing. Sobbing. And beneath it all, sounds no wife should ever have to hear.
