Shen Wenyu took a step toward her. He saw the tide turning. He saw Arleen-strong, victorious, terrifying-and his opportunistic brain switched gears.
"Arleen," he said, his voice dropping to a fake intimate register. "I... I didn't know. I was misled. We can talk about this."
He reached for her hand.
Arleen stepped back.
"Don't touch me," she said.
The crowd went silent again. This was better than reality TV.
"You just stood there and called me unstable," Arleen said. "You sided with the people who tormented me for years."
"I was under pressure!" Wenyu pleaded. "The family..."
"The family," Arleen repeated. "Right."
She reached into her inner blazer pocket. She pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was yellowed with age. She'd found it tucked into the back of the original Arleen's wallet when she was looking for an ID-a pathetic, worn document the girl had apparently carried everywhere like a talisman.
"This," she said, holding it up, "is the engagement contract our grandfathers signed."
Wenyu's eyes widened. "Arleen, wait. Don't do anything rash. That contract secures the merger..."
"Clause 14," Arleen recited from memory. "In the event of gross moral turpitude or public betrayal, the aggrieved party may dissolve the union unilaterally."
She looked at him.
"You are a coward, Shen Wenyu. And I don't marry cowards."
She ripped the paper in half.
The sound was amplified by the microphone. Rrrrip.
She put the halves together and ripped them again.
She threw the confetti into the air. It rained down between them.
"We are done," she said.
The auditorium exploded. Cheers. Screams. It was anarchy.
Shen Wenyu stood there, his face crumbling. He had just been publicly dumped by the girl everyone thought was trash. His social standing was vaporized.
Arleen turned and walked off the stage.
She didn't look back. She felt lighter. The System pinged in her head.
Synchronization: 100%. Emotional Baggage: Purged.
She walked out the side exit, into the cool afternoon air.
She took a deep breath. She was free.
"That was theatrical."
Hale was leaning against his black SUV, parked right at the exit. He was clapping slowly.
Arleen stopped. "I thought you liked a show."
"I do," Hale said. "But you made enemies today. Powerful ones. Vaughn won't stop. Shen Wenyu's father won't stop."
"Let them come," Arleen said.
"You need protection," Hale said.
"I can protect myself."
"Physically? Yes. Legally? Financially?" Hale shook his head. "They will bury you in lawsuits. They will evict your mother. They will crush you with paper."
Arleen frowned. He was right. She had skills, but she didn't have resources. Not yet.
"What do you want, Clemons?"
Hale opened the back door of the SUV.
"Get in. I have a proposition."
