I pushed past the stranger in the lobby.
"I don't need your help," I told him, marching straight for the glass doors. My mind was a singular, frantic loop. I needed my family.
The drive to the Thornton estate took twenty agonizing minutes. I burst through the heavy oak doors, ignoring the startled butler, and marched straight to my father's study.
"Look at this," I demanded, slamming my phone onto Arthur's mahogany desk.
The video played. Cedric's crude commands and Valora's breathless moans shattered the quiet elegance of the room.
Arthur Thornton didn't flinch. He calmly picked up his reading glasses, sliding them onto his nose. "Turn that vulgar noise off, Seren."
"It's Cedric," I said. My voice shook, but I forced my chin up. "And Valora Pierce. In my bed. I'm leaving him, Dad. I want to come home."
My mother, Eleanor, sat on the tufted leather sofa in the corner. She stirred her tea, the silver spoon clinking softly against the porcelain. "Don't be dramatic, darling."
"Dramatic?" I snatched the phone back, my fingers trembling. "I spent three years playing the perfect wife! I thought he would love me eventually. I gave him everything. I managed his life, I organized his galas, I secured his business deals. He just told his mistress I'm a sterile transaction!"
"He is right," Arthur stated.
The words punched the air out of my lungs. "What?"
Arthur folded his hands over his blotter. "You are a Thornton. Your marriage secured our European distribution networks. Did you think this was a fairy tale? Did you think we signed that contract for romance?"
"I thought I was your daughter!" I shouted, tears finally spilling over my hot cheeks. "I suffered his absolute coldness every single day. I kept up the appearances. I endured that empty penthouse. I secured the European route for Leo to manage! I spent my honeymoon negotiating with harbor masters so this family wouldn't lose its shipping monopoly!"
"And that is your duty," Arthur said, his tone flat.
"My duty was to be a partner, not a martyr!" I shot back.
"A wife supports her husband," Eleanor said, taking a delicate sip of her tea. "Valora is a phase. A plaything. You are Mrs. Montgomery. You hold the title. Act like it."
"He said he'd rather mutilate himself than touch me!" I screamed, the humiliation burning my throat. "He has been sleeping with her since the day after our wedding!"
Arthur stood up. He walked around the desk, his expression carved from stone.
*Smack.*
The strike snapped my head to the side. A sharp, burning sting blossomed across my left cheek.
Instead of crying harder, a hollow, dry laugh tore out of my throat. I touched my face, staring at the man who raised me. The sting grounded me, stripping away the last illusion I had about my place in this room.
"You selfish girl," Arthur hissed. He towered over me, his face turning a furious red. "Do you have any idea what a divorce will do to our stock prices? The Montgomery merger is the foundation of our quarterly earnings. The board will panic. You will ruin us!"
"He cheated on me!" I yelled back, tasting metallic blood on my inner lip. "He humiliated me!"
"Men cheat!" Eleanor snapped from the sofa. She slammed her teacup onto the saucer. "Your father had his indiscretions. I looked the other way. You will do exactly the same."
"I won't," I said, glaring at her. "I am calling Julian. I am filing the papers."
"If you file those papers," Arthur warned, his voice dropping to a dangerous register, "I will freeze your trust fund. I will blacklist Julian's firm. I will strip you of every credit card, every property, and every connection you have in this city. You will have nothing."
"You would destroy your own daughter to save a stock price?" I asked, nausea rolling through my stomach.
"I will protect this family from a rebellious child," Arthur corrected.
Eleanor stood up, smoothing down her silk skirt. "If you pull out of this marriage, Montgomery Enterprises tanks. Our shares plummet. You are not going to jeopardize Leo's future."
Leo. My younger brother. The golden boy who spent his days racing sports cars in Monaco while I sat in stuffy boardrooms securing his legacy.
"Leo gets the company, and I get sold to a monster?" I asked, my voice cracking into a whisper.
"Leo is the heir," Eleanor stated simply, devoid of any maternal warmth. "You are the bridge. Do not burn it."
Arthur pointed a rigid finger at the Persian rug. "Get on your knees."
I stared at his finger, then up at his face. "Excuse me?"
"Kneel," Arthur commanded, stepping closer. "You come into my house in the middle of the night, threatening to destroy our legacy over a bruised ego. Kneel and apologize for your insolence."
My legs trembled. The room spun slightly. I looked at my mother. She turned her head, examining a painting on the wall, refusing to meet my gaze. I looked back at my father. There was no warmth in his eyes. Just calculations. Profit margins. Assets and liabilities.
I was a liability. A piece of inventory trying to return itself to the warehouse.
I sank to the floor. The hard wood beneath the rug bruised my kneecaps. I stared at my father's polished shoes.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, the words tasting like ash.
"You will go back to that penthouse," Arthur dictated, staring down at me. "You will smile for the cameras at the charity gala tomorrow. You will never mention the word divorce again. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I lied.
I pushed myself off the floor. I didn't look at either of them as I turned and walked out of the study.
I didn't go back to the penthouse. I stumbled out the front doors of the estate. The night air was freezing, biting through my thin blouse, but the cold outside was nothing compared to the ice in my chest.
I walked for miles. The grand mansions of my neighborhood gave way to the towering skyscrapers of the city center, and finally, to the industrial stretch by the river. The city streets blurred into a smear of neon lights and dark shadows.
My phone buzzed relentlessly in my pocket. Julian. Cedric. My father.
I pulled the device out and threw it into a passing garbage truck.
I was a commodity. A walking bank account to Cedric. A bridge to my parents. A shield for Leo. I had no identity of my own. I was just a tool for everyone else to use and discard when they were done.
I reached the iron railing of the suspension bridge. Below, the black water of the river churned, violent and fast. The roar of the current filled my ears, drowning out the memories of Cedric's grunts and my father's slap.
I gripped the cold metal railing. The rust dug into my palms.
There was no home to return to. No family to protect me. No husband to love me.
I climbed onto the first rung. The wind whipped my hair across my face, stinging my eyes.
"Just end it," I muttered to the dark currents below.
I swung my right leg over the railing, shifting my weight forward into the empty air.
A strong hand clamped down on my shoulder.
