Graydon pulled a silk pocket square from his chest pocket. He wiped violently at the tea stain on his trousers, his movements so aggressive he nearly tore the fabric.
Tinsley shook like a leaf. "Graydon, I'm so sorry!" she cried, her voice pitching into a panicked whine. She reached out to help him wipe the stain.
Graydon took a sharp step back. His eyes sliced into her like razors. "Do not touch me with your filthy hands."
Tinsley recoiled as if she had been slapped. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Humiliated and terrified of Graydon, she spun around and directed all her venom at Caroline.
"This is your fault!" Tinsley shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at Caroline's face. "If you hadn't moved, the tea wouldn't have hit him!"
Caroline stared at her, utterly disgusted by the twisted logic. "So I should have stood there and let you burn my face off just to save his pants?"
Graydon tossed the ruined silk square directly into the roaring fireplace. The flames swallowed it instantly. He looked at Caroline, his voice dripping with Wall Street cruelty.
"This is exactly like restructuring a toxic asset," Graydon said, his words cold and precise. "You introduce a poisonous element into a clean ecosystem, and it contaminates everything."
The phrase "toxic asset" hit Caroline like a physical blow to the chest. She clenched her jaw so hard her teeth ached.
Emboldened by Graydon's insult, Tinsley puffed out her chest. She looked right at Matilda and screamed the family's dirtiest secret.
"She doesn't even deserve that bracelet! Her mother Lorelei was just a stray! A pathetic orphan the family bought from an asylum!"
The words struck Caroline like lightning. Her brain buzzed. She turned her shocked eyes to Matilda, silently begging the old woman to deny it.
Matilda's face turned grim. She gripped her cane tightly and yelled at Tinsley to shut up, but she didn't deny the accusation. Her eyes darted away from Caroline's.
It was true. Caroline felt the floor drop out from under her. She had zero Ross blood in her veins. She was a complete stranger in a house of monsters.
Graydon watched the color drain from Caroline's face. A sick sense of satisfaction gleamed in his eyes.
He walked back to the bar cart and poured another drink. "You're just a defective replica," he said smoothly. "Stop trying to climb a ladder that doesn't belong to you."
A crushing wave of humiliation threatened to drown Caroline. But years of fighting ruthless corporate sharks had forged her spine out of steel.
She took a deep breath. Instead of crying, she straightened her shoulders. A cold, razor-sharp smile spread across her lips.
She looked Graydon dead in the eye. "Good. Since we aren't related, I won't feel a shred of guilt when I drain that trust fund dry."
Tinsley let out a furious scream. She lunged at Caroline like a wild animal, her manicured claws reaching for the Cartier bracelet.
Caroline easily sidestepped the sloppy attack. Her hand shot out and grabbed a gooey, chocolate-covered macaron from the silver tea tray.
As Tinsley stumbled past her, Caroline slammed her hand flat against the back of Tinsley's pristine, white Chanel tweed jacket. She smeared the sticky chocolate deep into the expensive fabric.
A massive, dark brown stain ruined the haute couture instantly.
Tinsley looked over her shoulder. When she saw the stain, she let out a blood-curdling shriek and practically collapsed onto the sofa.
Caroline wiped the chocolate crumbs off her fingers. Her eyes were dead cold. "Street dogs bite hard. Don't test me again."
Matilda watched the chaos. Instead of being angry, a faint glimmer of approval shone in her old eyes. Caroline was a survivor.
Graydon's grip on his whiskey glass tightened. He stared at Caroline. She hadn't broken down. She had fought back with a vicious, calculating cruelty that completely contradicted her cheap clothes.
It fascinated and disgusted him at the same time.
Caroline ignored them all. She turned to Matilda, her voice hard. "I want to see my mother. Now."
Matilda nodded slowly. She gestured for Finch. Caroline turned her back on Graydon's piercing stare and marched out of the room.
