But for the sake of his ridiculous pride, he sided with Rosalie Galloway again and again, and humiliated my parents.

Two minutes later, my parents were shoved back into the living room.

My tears spilled over at once.

My father, always so refined, had been stripped of his expensive shirt and put into a gray, threadbare mourning robe. The coarse fabric hung loose and shapeless on his frame, and two young men were laughing as they tied the hemp rope around his waist.

"Uncle, it's a little big, but once we cinch the belt it'll fit just right."

He held his spine straight, the veins standing out one by one at his temple, and still he swallowed it down. My mother hid behind him, tears falling drop by drop.

Rosalie came out after them, and covered her mouth in fake surprise.

"Oh no, how did I grab the wrong clothes? These are the mourning robes from when Grandpa passed. Uncle, Auntie, you really did put them on."

"Now what do we do? Your clothes were so dirty I just tossed them out in the yard. Butch probably dragged them off to line his doghouse."

At her words, everyone turned to look at the yard of the Abbott house.

Sure enough, a big black dog was in its kennel, tearing furiously at my parents' clothes.

That carefully chosen outfit was already shredded into strips and threads, coiled beneath the dog.

All the relatives were whispering and tittering, their eyes on my parents mocking, contemptuous, out for a show.

Those looks were like countless needles, packed close, driving into my heart, one sharp sting after another.

I couldn't hold back the fury surging up in me any longer, and drove my foot hard into Russ Abbott's groin.

The instant they lost their grip, I rushed over, yanked apart the two young men crowding my parents, and pulled my parents toward the door.

I couldn't stand another second of it. I was getting my parents out of this den of wolves that ate people alive.

Only outside the yard did I realize my car keys were gone.

I didn't have to think about it to know Rosalie had taken them in the chaos.

Looking at the rough mountain road, I gritted my teeth and told my parents to wait for me.

I turned and went back to the living room. The moment I stepped inside, every drop of blood in me froze where I stood.

My fiancé, Russ Abbott, had one arm wrapped tenderly around Rosalie's waist, carefully dabbing ointment onto her face.

His touch was gentle, his eyes full of tenderness.

But when my parents were degraded, when I wept over and over, he saw none of it.

One faint red mark on Rosalie's face, and he cradled and fussed over her like this.

Beside them, the young man from before said, unhappy,

"Russ, that wife of yours needs to be taught a good lesson. She dared to lay a hand on my sister in front of all these people."

"So she's got a little money, big deal? She's your wife, isn't her money all yours too? You need to stand up like a man. Don't let a woman ride roughshod over you."

Hearing my footsteps, Russ looked up and saw me, and his expression turned instantly cold and full of impatience.

"Philippa Gilbert, today is my mother's big birthday. Do you really have to make a scene until both families lose all face?"

"Apologize to Rosalie right now. Apologize to my mother."

I lifted my eyes and swept them over the Abbott elders and relatives, all in their fine clothes, watching and snickering, wearing that look of scorn as they waited for the show. I drew in a deep breath and pressed down the fury churning inside me.

Once I'd given up on him completely, thinking of my parents still waiting for me outside, in that moment a strange, absolute calm rose up in me instead. My voice was flat, without a single ripple, as I said, "Fine."

Seeing me yield, Russ let out a breath and exchanged a satisfied glance with Rosalie.

Smugness crossed Deborah's face, and now she stopped playing the mute, opening her mouth in a slow, leisurely drawl.

"Since Philippa knows she was wrong, and knows our rules now, we'll let today's matter go."

"All right, today is my birthday. Philippa, go fetch a basin of water and kneel down to wash my feet. This is our custom too. When the mother-in-law has her birthday, the new bride kneels down to wash the birthday elder's feet."

The room went silent in an instant, every pair of eyes settling on me.

For three stunned seconds I said nothing. Then I laughed.

So this was what the fiftieth birthday party had really been for. All of it arranged for me, the new bride.

One act after another. It was never anything more than a game to squeeze me down, to make me small and obedient, to break me into a woman who did as she was told.

The Gilbert family was worth millions. We wanted for nothing. What did Russ Abbott have to measure up against that?

I looked at the flash of venom in Rosalie Galloway's eyes, at the way Russ shrank back and yet somehow looked righteous about it all.

I dug my nails into my palm and told myself it was only kneeling to wash a pair of feet. Just pretend you're at a nursing home doing a kind turn for some old woman.

I stepped forward, slowly bent, and knelt on the floor. Rosalie shoved a basin of water into my hands and spoke like she was lecturing a child.

“Philippa, if you're marrying into the Abbott family, you follow the Abbott rules. Honor your in-laws, obey your husband. Enough of parading around like some spoiled heiress looking down her nose at everyone……”

I took the basin without a word, slipped the shoe off Deborah's foot, cradled it in my hands, and scrubbed, stroke by stroke.

In that moment I was strangely calm. Not a trace of self-pity. I had chosen this road blind, so I would kneel and walk it to the end. I would not drag my parents into it.

Ten minutes later I lifted my eyes to her.

“It's done, Mom.”

Deborah nodded, satisfied, then said coolly,

“Now that's how an Abbott daughter-in-law should behave.”

“Philippa, have your parents come in and kneel and dry my feet. That's the custom on our side. From now on I'll be raising their daughter in their place, so they owe me a bow of thanks.”

The sound crashed through me.

Something inside me snapped clean through. I could take the shame. I could take the cruelty aimed at me. But my parents had lived their whole lives upright and dignified, they had treated the Abbotts with nothing but sincerity, never once looked down on any of them. Why should they suffer a humiliation this monstrous?

The fury boiling up in me broke loose, and before anyone could react I snatched the basin of dirty footwater off the floor and flung it at Deborah with a splash, then slammed the empty basin straight into Rosalie's face.

If backing down one step wouldn't be enough for them, then we'd burn it all to the ground together.

Everyone froze. Then I lunged, grabbed a fistful of Rosalie's long hair, yanked her head back hard, and slapped her across the face, one crack after another, sharp and ringing.

“Since when do you get to humiliate my parents?”

Rosalie's scream tore through the living room. Russ finally came to and rushed over first thing, kicking me in the stomach.

“Philippa, are you insane? You dare hit Rosalie?”

I crashed into the coffee table, knocking over the cups and the pitcher, pain shooting up my spine.

Seeing me crumpled on the floor, Russ seemed to come back to himself, staring at his own hands, lost.

“Philippa, I……I didn't mean to. You started this yourself, you……”

By then the Abbott relatives had erupted, all talking over each other.

“The little slut actually raised her hand to my aunt. She needs a proper lesson, or once she's married in my aunt will be taking her abuse for the rest of her life.”

“Exactly. If she'll throw a fit on my aunt's birthday, imagine how she'll lord it over everyone once our backs are turned.”

Then a heavyset man with a face full of coarse flesh came forward. Russ's uncle.

He carried a bamboo paddle a finger thick and walked right up to me.

““The world's turned upside down. No respect for your elders, beating them as you please. Today I'll teach you a proper lesson on this family's behalf, you daughter-in-law who doesn't know her place.”

The paddle swung high, cutting the air with a vicious hiss, and came straight down at my back.

In the instant I shut my eyes and braced for it, a roar exploded across the living room.

“Stop.”