"Get her drunk in a bit, then take her to a hotel room."

I lowered my head and pretended I hadn't seen anything.

"And if I don't drink?"

Muriel gave a thin smile. "Then you're not walking out that door today."

I smiled too, and looked her straight in the eye.

"Muriel, you've been provoking me all night, and I let it slide."

"Now I'll give you one last chance."

"Get out of my way."

"Otherwise I'll strip you of everything that lets you swagger like this, until you're on your knees begging me to forgive you."

Muriel doubled over laughing, as if she'd heard the funniest joke in the world, until tears came to her eyes.

"You all hear that, everyone?"

"Daniela says she's going to make me sorry, make me get on my knees and beg. Ooh, I'm so scared."

The room filled in around her with jeers and laughter.

Muriel's tone turned even more smug.

"I'd really love to see it. How exactly are you going to make me sorry?"

"Are you going to send that vagrant husband of yours to pick trash off my doorstep?"

I said nothing, didn't argue. I just pulled out my phone and calmly typed out one line.

"That Russell Henson. Remove him."

"Run a full investigation on him."

"The moment you find anything, press charges immediately."

Seeing that I stayed quiet, Muriel assumed I'd lost my nerve, and her smile only grew more pleased with itself.

"Daniela, you used to have such a mouth on you. What happened, cat got your tongue?"

"Did marrying a pauper leave you too ashamed to speak?"

"Don't worry. We're old classmates, after all. I won't really make fun of you."

She lifted her glass and took a sip.

"Come on, come on, a toast to you."

"This is a class reunion, isn't it? Everyone should be having a good time."

"If you're really in a tight spot, you can just tell me. I'll have my husband help you out."

Muriel smiled her fake little smile and deliberately pushed the glass into my hand.

The classmates around her chimed right in.

"Exactly, exactly. Muriel's the wife of Sheridan Group's general manager now. Whatever trouble you run into down the road, you go to her, and how could she say no?"

"Today you have to give Muriel some face and drink all nine of these. She's our connection, you know."

"If you won't drink, we'll be the first ones to say no!"

A pack of loyal dogs, truly.

"Muriel, do you really know who I am?"

"Even if your husband is the general manager of Sheridan Group, all it takes is one word from me and he's fired, out on the street. You want to bet?"

Muriel froze for a beat, then laughed until she was crying again.

"Oh my God, how did I never notice you had such a gift for comedy before?"

"Dani, you're so impressive. Are you about to tell me that pauper husband of yours is the owner of Sheridan Group?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"That's right."

The laughter cut off.

The room went silent for two seconds.

Then Muriel was the first to burst out laughing.

"Daniela, have you lost your mind? With your husband in his baggy shorts and flip-flops, he's the owner of Sheridan?"

"Listen to yourself. Who's going to believe that?"

"Back in school you were nothing but a scholarship kid living off the poverty grant, and now you dare tell a lie this big without worrying it'll blow up in your face."

The class president joined in with his own sneering.

"Daniela, that's laying it on a little thick, don't you think?"

"Right. The owner of Sheridan is named Dickerson. He's been in the finance magazines, I've seen his picture."

"The man's in his forties. How old is your husband?"

"Vain to the bone, that's what you are. No wonder your life turned out this pathetic, Daniela."

"She can't even keep her lies straight!"

"If you're really that rich, why show up in knockoffs and embarrass yourself?"

The man named Dickerson is my husband's secretary.

Austin Delgado has doted on me for years. Ever since we married, he's spent most of his time traveling with me, honeymooning, always wanting to be by my side.

Company matters especially, he prefers to hand off. For certain important occasions, he simply sends his secretary to stand in with full authority.

I never imagined the rumors outside had grown so wild.

Somehow Secretary Dickerson had become the owner of Sheridan Group.

"Believe it or don't."

I shrugged and looked at Muriel. "I've passed along the message. As for you, don't come crying to me later when you regret it."

"Remember, arrogance always catches up with a person."

I turned to leave, and outside a crack of thunder split the air, rain crashing down all at once.

"Oh no, what do we do? It's suddenly pouring out there."

"Did any of you drive here? Nobody brought an umbrella. How are we supposed to leave?"

Muriel suddenly laughed, put away her phone, and made sure every classmate heard her.

"It's raining, and my husband just said he's coming to pick me up."

"In the Rolls-Royce he just bought, too."

Another round of fawning swept the room.

"Oh my god, your husband is loaded, huh?"

"A Rolls-Royce, seriously? I've never ridden in one my whole life. I don't even know what it's like."

A few of the girls crowded up to Muriel, gushing over her.

"Could you ask your husband later? Let us ride in his car too?"

"Yeah, yeah, for old times' sake, let us bask in it a little."

Muriel looked at me, smug.

"Daniela, your husband's so poor, he probably can't even afford a car."

"In rain like this, he probably can't be bothered to come get you. Why don't you ride back in my husband's car?"

I answered flatly.

"No need. I have a car."

At my answer, the whole room froze.

"Don't joke around, how could you… possibly have a car?"

"Right, you don't look anything like someone who owns a car."

"Even if you did buy one, it wouldn't be anything decent, would it? Probably some off-brand little junker."

"We all know exactly what your family situation was like."

"Back then you had to apply for the low-income student grant every year just to get by."

"So don't put on a brave front for us."

"Right, even admitting you don't have a car isn't anything to be ashamed of."

I stood where I was, silent.

They weren't wrong. Back then my family really was poor.

Every year I had to apply for the low-income student grant.

But that was ten years ago.

I earned a perfect SAT score and got into an Ivy League university.

Arriving in New York City was like a fish half-dead from thirst finally finding water.

With a sharp head for business,

just two years into college I'd built my own company and made my first ten million.

The years after that only got smoother, and after I met my husband, Austin Delgado, I built Sheridan Group from the ground up into a Fortune 500 company.

While my classmates were proud just to land jobs at Sheridan Group, I had already become the one who called the shots there.

"Drop the act, Daniela!"

Muriel cut me off with a cold laugh.

"I saw every car downstairs, all of them designer brands, and I already checked with the hotel management."

"Not one of them is yours!"

I lifted my head and looked at her, baffled.

"I never said I was driving here today."

Either Austin came for me himself, or he sent a driver.

"No way!"

Muriel narrowed her eyes and looked at me, cold as ice. "Daniela, having a vain classmate like you is a genuine embarrassment."

"Since you didn't drive here, then drink all of this down."

"Otherwise, don't even think about walking out that door today!"

I let out a cold scoff and turned to leave, but the door was kicked shut in my face.

Tony's hand clamped around my wrist.

"Daniela, don't push your luck. You'd rather do this the hard way?"

"Be a good girl and drink every last drop."

"Even if you pass out, it doesn't matter."

Tony suddenly smiled, his greasy hand sliding back and forth through my hair.

"I'll take care of you. I'll see you home myself."

"Get your filthy hands off me!"

I said it coldly, but he only got worse, so the next second I drove my knee straight into his groin.

Tony let out a shriek of pain.

"Daniela! You little bitch!"

Muriel's face turned vicious in an instant, and she called on the classmates around her to grab me.

"I'd like to see who dares lay a finger on me."

Maybe it was the edge in my eyes. The old classmates froze where they stood, glancing at one another, none of them willing to come closer.

"Muriel, why don't we just let it go?"

"If she's cornered, what if Daniela turns on us and drags us down with her?"

"Absolutely not!"

Muriel shot them a cold glance.

"So you're all chickening out now?"

"Don't forget the deal we made before this reunion. Whoever gets Daniela drunk walks away with fifty thousand in cash."

"If you're all cowards, then get lost, quick."

Muriel pushed up her sleeve and moved slowly toward me.

"I'll do it myself."

As she came at me with the glass in hand, I glanced up at my watch.

Figuring the timing was about right, I spoke with a cold smile.

"Muriel, instead of standing here throwing your weight around, mocking me, cooking up your little schemes to get me drunk—"

"—you'd be better off asking your husband."

"That CEO husband you're so proud of? Right about now he's probably got a real mess on his hands, running himself ragged trying to fix it."

"Don't you dare threaten me, cursing me like that!"

Muriel didn't believe a word of it and glared at me savagely.

"My husband is the general manager of Sheridan Group. Who would dare touch him?"

The words were barely out when Muriel's phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID and grinned smugly as she looked around at the classmates beside her.

"It's my husband. He said he'd come pick me up. He must already be here!"

"Daniela, weren't you just cursing that my husband's in trouble?"

"I'll have him come right up and slap that smug look off your face!"

I said nothing, watching coldly as Muriel took the call and cooed a sweet little "honey."

But it wasn't long before her expression changed all at once.

The moment he answered, her face went white.

"What did you say? How... how could you be bankrupt?"