I didn't want anything to do with him anymore.
I went to find Ferdinand. This time, no matter what it cost me, I was going to end this engagement.
"Ferdinand, let's meet. We need to talk about calling off the engagement."
There was no reply for a long time.
It wasn't until the small hours of the morning that a few words finally appeared.
"Meet me here tomorrow."
He sent an address.
The next day, I didn't think much of it on my way there. But when I arrived and looked around, Ferdinand was nowhere to be seen.
The only person there was Mabel, flanked by several men, walking toward me with slow, deliberate steps.
"Mabel? What are you doing here?"
"Where's Ferdinand?"
Mabel was dressed in a leather jacket. She gave me a cold smile.
"He was busy today, so he sent me instead."
"Georgette, you've got nerve, showing up alone like this. Didn't it ever cross your mind that a meeting like this could go sideways?"
My head snapped up. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Mabel said nothing. She let out a low laugh and flicked her wrist. The hulking men behind her surged toward me, their faces twisted with menace.
A flash of steel. A fruit knife, hidden behind someone's back.
One swift slash. Searing pain tore across my face, and warm liquid dripped down my skin.
They'd cut my face.
"Mabel, what the hell are you doing?"
Mabel shoved me, satisfaction dripping from every pore as she looked down at me.
"Georgette, so what if you were born into privilege? So what if you're the Pruitt family's golden daughter?"
"You still lost to me. Look at you, pathetic as a stray dog."
"I'll let you in on a little secret. Those trade secrets from your company? I'm the one who leaked them."
"I hear Old Mr. Pruitt despises dead weight more than anything. Someone who keeps making a fool of herself over a man, over and over again. Do you honestly think you still have a shot at being the Pruitt heir?"
Her smile sharpened into something vicious and venomous.
"And now I've ruined your face."
"Ferdinand will never marry you."
"But don't blame me. Blame yourself for being so naive, believing anything anyone tells you. Today, I thought it was time you got a taste of real suffering..."
Just as she was about to finish me off, a swarm of bodyguards burst out from the surrounding area.
They closed in, forming a tight circle around Mabel and her thugs.
Mabel stumbled back two steps, the color draining from her face. "What is this?"
I rose to my feet, my gaze cold and level.
"Mabel. Did you really think I'd lose to you that easily?"
