Terri turned away in disgust.
Blayne let out a cold laugh. “Someone like her? She actually thinks she deserves to walk in with me and attend the party? Still clinging to the title of my fiancée? As if.”
The staff behind him, quick on their feet, stepped forward with a dress box in hand.
Terri remained where she was, unmoving. She was waiting for Blayne’s final verdict.
‘This is good.’
With every action, Blayne was wearing down the last remnants of her patience and attachment.
The final stage of desensitization.
Once she had cried out all her tears, she would leave—swiftly, cleanly, without ever looking back.
Blayne tightened his hold around Valerie’s waist. “Go back the way you came. My family’s party doesn’t need someone as manipulative and disgraceful as you. You’re not fit to be my wife, let alone my fiancée.”
The dress matched Blayne’s outfit perfectly.
Terri watched as he handed it to Valerie.
Terri looked at Blayne, her expression unusually calm, without a hint of emotion.
She nodded. “Alright.”
That made Blayne seem caught off guard.
Something about the way she looked at him gave him an unsettling feeling as if he was losing something.
But he quickly dismissed the thought, convinced she was just putting on a front.
With a look of contempt, he turned away, holding Valerie’s hand as they brushed past Terri.
Valerie shot her a triumphant smile.
Just then, Terri’s phone chimed.
A message from Valerie.
[The Crimson Club, Room 304. Remember what I told you. Otherwise, you know what’ll happen.]
A familiar face flashed through Terri’s mind.
Her grip tightened around her phone as she stepped out the door.
From a higher vantage point, Valerie watched Terri’s retreating figure. She tugged at the sleeve of the man beside her, pouting.
“Mr. Hemphill wants me to sign the contract now. The party doesn’t start for a while, so we have just enough time. Blayne, come with me?”
Terri didn’t want to go.
But she had no choice.
Oswald, Blayne’s grandfather, had her in his grasp. He thought she was easier to control than Valerie, so he insisted she marry Blayne.
Now, Valerie was using the same tactics.
Years ago, Terri’s mother had been young and naive when she was taken advantage of by Giddeon, Valerie’s father, while he was stationed in a quiet Midwest town.
In places like that, a woman in Clarissa’s situation would have been sent away in disgrace.
Clarissa didn’t want to disappear, so she clung to Giddeon and followed him to Massachusetts.
She kept her head down and survived by playing the obedient, submissive role under Demetria’s watch.
But even then, in that household, Clarissa remained the perfect target for the cruelty of Belladonna, Valerie’s mother.
And by extension, Terri became Valerie’s punching bag.
Controlling Terri was easy.
All they had to do was threaten to expose Clarissa’s past as a mistress and cut off her financial support.
Clarissa was a timid woman who had lived her whole life afraid. If that day ever came, it would push her straight to the edge.
Terri couldn’t let that happen.
Even if it meant being treated like a dog, she had to go.
From inside the private room, crude, degrading voices mocked the female servers.
Terri’s lashes quivered.
She hesitated for a moment until she pushed open the door.
“Well, well, this must be Miss Valerie’s so-called sister, the one who tried to seduce her fiancé?”
All eyes turned to the entrance.
Their gazes were lewd and amused as if Terri’s presence had been expected.
Terri took a deep breath. “I’m here to get the documents Valerie told me to retrieve.”
The fat man at the head of the table let go of the server in his arms and lazily lifted his chin at Terri.
“That’s not how you ask for favors. If you want the contract, show some humility.”
He pulled out the document and placed a tall glass of fortified wine on top of it.
“Drink it, and the contract is yours.”
Terri wasn’t stupid.
She knew exactly what kind of trap they had set for her.
