Bob tossed a crumpled agreement onto the table like it was trash.
“The young are foolish and the old pretend to forget. Hey, old man—don’t act like you’ve always been high and mighty. You all came from the slums too, remember? Back then, the three great families were on their knees, begging my ancestors for help. Crying, groveling, until your knees gave out! The Mercer Family traded away centuries of good fortune just to lift your bloodlines out of the dirt!”
“Nonsense!” Bob barked. “The Montrose Family stands tall, with our feet planted firmly on the ground! Everything we have, we earned with our own blood and sweat! You think you can rewrite history with that ‘destiny’ crap? I’m not here to argue. Sign the damn paper, or die.”
Behind him, a line of Montrose bodyguards loomed—huge, intimidating men, all built like tanks.
They surrounded me, their eyes full of menace.
Like if I so much as hesitated, they’d beat me to death right where I stood.
I sat cross-legged on the edge of the street, unfolded the contract and raised my hand.
“Pen.”
One of the guards handed it over—but instead of placing it in my hand, he dropped it at my feet. Then kicked it toward me like I was trash.
I shrugged. There was no point arguing with a man about to die.
“Dad, that was amazing! You made him cancel the marriage agreement. Just imagine if we actually had to associate with someone from the slums like him. That would’ve been so embarrassing.”
Suddenly, Adrienne screamed. “It’s gone!”
“I washed it off. See? That red mark is gone now! I knew you're just a liar!”
But above us, the sky had gone black. Lightning cracked in the distance.
I bit off the pen cap.
“Too late.”
“Where’s that lightning you said would strike me? Lying piece of—”
A bolt of lightning split the sky, striking down with a deafening boom of thunder.
“Dad,” Blair whispered, inching closer, “t-that’s not the punishment he was talking about… right?”
Bob let out a low chuckle, calmly stroking his beard with amused confidence.
“Don’t be scared. It’s just small lightning.”
Then he turned to me with a sneer and barked, “Now listen, boy—if you waste one more second of my time, I’ll start with your arm.”
“Signing a contract bound your fate this takes time. Hold your pants.”
I focused every ounce of energy into my right hand.
The moment the pen touched the paper, the wind howled.
Blood-red lightning streaked across the sky. The air turned sulfurous, yellowish, unnatural.
“No! You fools! Stop this at once!” The Montrose patriarch stumbling toward us with his cane. He knew better than anyone what was about to happen.
“Grandpa, what are you doing here?”
“This is madness! Absolute madness! That contract—our entire family’s fate depends on it!” He shouted, panicked. “You can’t back out of a destiny pact without invoking heaven’s wrath. The Montrose Family will crumble! Cass, don’t sign—!”
His hand landed on my shoulder, trying to stop me—but a violent gust hurled him back several feet.
I clicked the pen shut, then turned and tossed the signed contract into the wind.
“Sorry, what was that?” I asked, my voice deadpan. “Couldn’t hear you over the storm.”
The old man clutched the signed document, his hands trembling.
Blair stormed up to me. “How dare you push my grandfather? Do you have any idea who we are? The Montrose name is worth more than a hundred of you! How dare you!”
Push him? I didn’t even lay a finger on the guy. The man was so old his bones could barely hold him up—one strong gust of wind was enough to knock him over. That had nothing to do with me.
Fed up with the entire Montrose clan, I turned my eyes to Cecilia Fairfax.
Honesty, of the three, she was the one I found most appealing—especially with that flawless figure of hers. But also the one who despised me the most.
“You?”
Cecilia caught my gaze and sneered. “Disgusting.”
I rubbed my nose. “So… are we breaking it off too?”
“Obviously,” she snapped. “You think I’d actually marry a broke loser like you?”
