The warm blood pooling on her tongue was the only real thing in the room. Danica swallowed it.
She placed her hands flat against the carpet. Her muscles shook, but she forced her knees to straighten. She stood up, towering over the crouching photographers.
A reporter shoved a microphone toward her mouth. Danica's hand shot out. She grabbed the man by his collar, her knuckles turning white.
With a violent jerk, she ripped the microphone from his grip. The reporter stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock.
Danica squeezed the microphone. A piercing, high-pitched feedback screech blasted through the ballroom speakers.
Guests clamped their hands over their ears. The reporters flinched. The chaotic room fell into a dead, ringing silence.
Danica pointed a trembling finger at the massive LED screen.
"Look at the bottom right corner of the video," she ordered. Her voice was raw but amplified to a deafening volume. "Look at the timestamp."
The crowd squinted at the screen.
"That date and time," Danica said, her chest heaving. "I was in Boston. Presenting at the National Medical Symposium. In front of four hundred doctors. They are all my witnesses."
Hank stopped walking. His back stiffened. He spun around, his face flushing red. A faint bruise was already blooming along his jaw from the slap she had delivered moments ago, but the anger in his eyes burned brighter than the mark.
"Stop lying!" Hank shouted over the crowd. "You're just trying to cover up your filth!"
Danica did not argue. She didn't say another word. She dropped the microphone. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
She grabbed handfuls of her heavy silk skirt. Her eyes were dead, focused entirely on Hank. She marched down the aisle, her steps eating up the distance between them.
Hank frowned. He stepped forward and raised his hand to push her back.
Danica twisted her torso, dodging his hand. She pulled her right arm back, her shoulder muscles coiling tight.
She swung.
Smack.
The sound of flesh hitting flesh cracked through the silent room.
Hank's head snapped to the side. The force of the slap sent him stumbling. A thin line of dark blood welled up at the corner of his mouth.
The entire ballroom stopped breathing.
Cailin shrieked. Her face twisted in ugly fury. She raised her hand, her sharp acrylic nails aiming straight for Danica's eyes.
Danica's left hand shot up. She caught Cailin's wrist mid-air. Her grip crushed the delicate bones.
Without missing a beat, Danica backhanded Cailin with her right hand.
The impact sent Cailin crashing to the floor. Her perfect updo unraveled, spilling hair across her face. She whimpered, clutching her stinging cheek.
Danica stood over them. Her breathing was heavy, but her voice was ice.
"You two pieces of trash," Danica said. "You deserve each other."
She reached up and grabbed the custom lace veil pinned to her hair. She yanked it hard.
A few strands of hair ripped from her scalp. The sharp sting flared across her head, but she didn't blink. She threw the crumpled veil directly into Hank's bleeding face.
Danica turned around. She straightened her spine, pulling her shoulders back. She walked straight into the wall of reporters. They instinctively parted, intimidated by the sheer violence radiating from her.
She walked out of the double doors.
The moment she stepped out of the hotel lobby, the freezing November wind of New York hit her. It sliced right through the thin silk of her wedding dress. Goosebumps erupted across her bare arms.
She shivered violently. She pulled out her phone and opened the Uber app.
A red error message popped up. Payment Declined.
She opened her banking app. Every single credit card linked to the Thorne family trust was frozen. Her balance was zero.
A yellow cab pulled up to the curb. The driver rolled down the window, staring at her ruined dress and messy hair with wide eyes.
Danica didn't hesitate. She grabbed the five-carat diamond engagement ring on her left hand. She pulled it off her finger.
She held the massive diamond up to the open window, letting the streetlights catch its flawless facets.
"Take me to Queens," Danica said, her teeth chattering. "When we get there, I'll give you this ring, and you give me all the cash you have and your phone."
The driver stared at the diamond, swallowed hard, and unlocked the back door.
Danica slid into the cracked leather seat. As the cab sped away from the glittering skyline of Manhattan, the adrenaline finally crashed.
Her chest caved in. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Thirty minutes later, she stood under the freezing spray of a shower in a cheap, dirty motel room. She slid down the moldy tiles, pulled her knees to her chest, and sobbed until her throat burned. She swore to God she would make them pay.
