Terry and I were dragged bodily to the center of the red carpet.
Diana Pruitt stood beside me, raised a hand for silence, then lifted her chin toward one corner of the room.
In an instant, blinding lights snapped on overhead.
On the huge LED screen behind me appeared the blurry photo from her phone.
"Look closely, everyone! This is the little homewrecker in the picture!"
"Ferdinand was going to marry me this month, until this woman got her claws into him and he actually decided to call it off!"
"So tell me, a shameless slut like this, should I or shouldn't I beat her?!"
The whole room erupted, accusations and curses rolling in one after another.
I ground out through clenched teeth, "I already told you, that's not me in the picture!"
Blown up that large, the photo only got blurrier. You could just make out that the woman's height and qipao were similar to mine, not a hint of her face.
But every one of them lined up behind Diana and her lies anyway.
"Tch, that's clearly the same person! What's there to argue about? The nerve, a mistress this brazen!"
"Does she think we're all blind? Seducing Miss Pruitt's own fiancé."
"Looks so innocent, but what a tramp. That poor fool next to her, probably doesn't even know he's been cheated on."
The venom poured into my ears, wave after wave.
But I suddenly turned to look at Terry beside me.
He couldn't bear bright light, and his heart was fragile. Already his breathing had gone fast and ragged.
His lips had started to turn purple. It didn't look good at all.
"Terry!"
Panic hit me all at once. I clapped both hands over his ears to block out the noise.
"How are you? Terry, breathe deep, you're all right!"
He shook in my arms, his hand gripping my sleeve, and gave a weak little laugh.
"Marjorie, I'm... fine..."
Then his breath caught as if something had lodged in his throat, his whole face going blue-purple, and he clawed at his own throat, his expression twisted with pain.
"Terry!"
I lost my head completely, scrabbling with shaking hands into his pocket for the pouch.
It was the life-saving medicinal pouch Polly had made with her own hands, his only chance right now!
The second I pulled it out, Diana was faster, her heel kicking my hand hard.
The pain shot through me and I flinched back. She snatched up the pouch and turned it over in her fingers, taunting.
"You want this to save him? Fine! Kneel right now and apologize to me!"
"Say you'll never go after my fiancé again, and I'll give it back and save this fool!"
Terry's breathing was choked off now, and through the painful rattle in his throat I could just make out the words.
"Marjorie... don't, don't kneel..."
My head buzzed, tears spilling out, my teeth nearly grinding to dust.
Through the blur, I looked at Diana.
"Diana Pruitt! Do you have any idea? My eldest brother, Dudley Hughes, runs both sides of the line in Bostonbridge! My second brother heads an international auction house!
"His sisters, one's a famous attorney, one's a master of traditional medicine. Touch us, and the Pruitt family is finished!"
Diana froze for a beat, then burst out laughing.
"Both sides of the line? Heads an international auction house?"
"A sickly little wreck and a shameless mistress, daring to claim ties to the Hughes family of Bostonbridge?"
"Please. If you're a Hughes, then I'm a saint reborn!"
The more she said, the more vicious her face became.
"Still lying to threaten me. I'm going to show you exactly who you're dealing with this year!"
And with that, Diana hurled the pouch to the floor and crushed it under her heel, grinding like a madwoman.
White powder scattered across the floor in an instant.
"No! No, please!!"
I lunged forward like I'd gone mad to stop her, that was the medicine that kept Terry alive!
But a bodyguard kicked me to the ground in a heartbeat, and Diana grabbed a fistful of my hair, forcing my face up to hers.
"Now it hurts, does it? Heh, then kneel down nicely and apologize!"
"You just say the word and I'll keep mine, I'll even be merciful enough to forgive you and send this sickly wreck to the best hospital for treatment!"
"Well?"
Diana arched her brows, deliberately goading.
"Marjorie... don't."
Terry caught my hand, trembling, and shook his head with the last of his strength.
Seeing him like that hurt worse than dying. What did I care about dignity now?
Without another thought, my knee bent and I started to go down.
Just as I was about to kneel.
Outside the ballroom's fire door came a sudden, relentless, thunderous pounding!
"Miss Hughes, are you in there?!"
