From the time I was old enough to understand anything, I was taught two things: protect your country, and never accept humiliation.
This was a premeditated attack. A calculated degradation.
If the people above me ever found out what happened here, every last one of them—the entire Delgado family included—would face consequences they couldn't begin to imagine.
The moment that ring slid onto Hester's finger, she looked like a woman who'd finally gotten everything she ever wanted. Vindication radiated off her in waves.
Before I could react, her hand whipped across my face. The slap cracked through the room like a gunshot.
"Know your place, Elise. Get lost. This wedding is mine now."
My cheek burned white-hot.
That slap. Every humiliation I'd swallowed today. I filed them all away.
It wasn't that I didn't dare hit back. My parents had made it clear before I left: my identity was classified, and every word I spoke, every move I made, represented the facility's interests. I couldn't afford a scene.
"Fine. The wedding's off."
Scott's expression darkened. He clearly hadn't expected me to agree so easily.
I tore off the veil and turned to leave.
His voice cut through the air behind me, cold as a blade.
"Stop. Did I say you could go?"
My steps faltered. I turned to face him.
"What now? Got something else to say, Mr. Delgado? The wedding's canceled. There's nothing left between us."
Scott closed the distance until he towered over me, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"Apologize to Hester."
"Apologize? For what?"
A cruel smirk twisted his lips.
"For humiliating her in public. For embarrassing her so badly she cried for days. For the slap she just gave you—which hurt her own hand, by the way."
His voice dropped lower, possessive and final.
"And because Hester is my woman now."
I almost laughed. Actually, I did laugh—a short, disbelieving sound.
"Scott, if your brain's this broken, see a doctor. When exactly did I humiliate her in public?"
Hester stood off to the side, smug satisfaction plastered across her face.
"Oh, Ms. Summers has such a short memory. Three months ago, at your engagement party with Scott, I accidentally spilled a little wine on you. And you had me thrown out. You even forced me to pay damages..."
Her voice climbed higher, trembling with practiced hurt. She pouted, burrowed into Scott's chest, and let out a string of pitiful little sobs.
Now that she mentioned it, I did remember.
That engagement party had been nothing more than a cover—a convenient excuse to facilitate the covert handoff of a classified document. The whole event was theater.
Hester had barged up to me out of nowhere and splashed an entire glass of red wine down my front. The wine hadn't damaged the device concealing the classified files, but her behavior was suspicious enough to raise flags.
My superiors had assigned me a personal bodyguard who posed as a distant cousin. She'd interrogated Hester as a potential security threat and removed her from the venue.
But the claim about forced compensation? Pure fabrication.
Scott's gaze bored into me, venomous and sharp.
"You dared humiliate Hester like that. Today, you'll pay it back a hundred times over."
So that was what this was about. Scott skipping the wedding to propose to Hester. The rooster. The tainted wine forced to my lips.
All of it—revenge for three months ago.
I drew a slow breath and crushed the fury rising in my chest. When I spoke, my voice was ice.
"You want me to apologize? Neither of you deserves one."
Scott's face went ashen.
"You'll apologize whether you want to or not. And on top of that, you'll pay Hester ten million dollars in emotional damages."
His eyes narrowed to slits.
"Otherwise, you won't make it out of Riverton in one piece."
On cue, several men materialized behind him. Their expressions were lewd, their gazes crawling over my body without an ounce of shame.
He thought I'd crumble. Thought I couldn't produce that kind of money. Thought I'd have no choice but to beg.
What he didn't know was that ten million dollars meant nothing to me. And threats? From him?
Not even close.
A faint smile curved the corner of my mouth.
"Fine. Ten million. I'll pay."
I let the words settle. Then my gaze hardened.
"But she just slapped me across the face. And she destroyed my dowry." I looked between them, steady and unhurried. "So don't you think you owe me an apology? And compensation of your own?"
