No one in their right mind would touch a place that remote—and now they were accusing me of chasing his family's redevelopment money?

As the whispers around us grew louder, Ella only looked more pleased with herself.

I lifted my gaze to Jacob, waiting to see how he'd handle this.

Instead, he stepped between us, his voice full of helpless indulgence. “Ella, come on, don't be like that.”

Then he turned, ruffled my hair, and made the introduction. “This is my younger uncle's daughter, Ella Matthews.”

He went on, “Roberta, look—I'm the only person from our whole village who made it to college. My family's got a lot riding on me. When my mom heard you already have a kid, she got worried I was being played, so she had Ella come out and… size things up.”

“The timing of us getting together is pretty convenient. It's hard not to wonder if you caught wind of the redevelopment and came for the money.”

“Don't be upset. She didn't mean any harm.”

Not a shred of intention to apologize for Ella's behavior.

The ache flared in my chest, and I forced it back down before it could take hold.

I nodded. “I'm not upset.”

Years of fighting my own battles had taught me to fix the problem first and feel the hurt later.

So I took out my phone and dialed.

“Send the word. The South Bay Village redevelopment project is on hold.”

I hung up. Jacob froze for a few seconds, mouth half-open, but before he could speak, Ella burst into a shrill laugh.

“Oh, cute—what are you even pretending to be, you little tramp?”

“Shut down our village's redevelopment project? You? Who do you think you are!”

She leaned in close to my ear, dropping her voice. “I'll let you in on something. The project manager for the redevelopment is my brother. We skimmed a million off the top. Once the payout clears, my family moves up in the world.”

“A slut who got knocked up before she even had a ring? You could spread your legs in the middle of the road and we still wouldn't look twice. You want into our family? Try your next life.”

I looked at her sharply. “Skimmed a million?”

She didn't catch the shift, still riding high on her own smugness. “What, jealous? You could sell yourself on the street and never make that kind of money in your whole life.”

I laughed—short, cold—and dialed again.

Brief instructions. Then I looked at her.

“I hope you're ready to stand behind what you just said. The Legal Department's legal notice should arrive this afternoon, and an investigation will follow.”

“I hope you're still smiling then.”

Ella threw her head back and laughed again, louder this time.

“Legal Department? A legal notice? God, you really can't stop with the act, can you, you little tramp?”

My upbringing simply didn't leave room for that kind of language.

But in all my years, no one had ever stood in front of me and called me a tramp to my face. Not once, let alone over and over.

My patience was gone. I took my daughter's hand and looked at Jacob.

I told him plainly, “Jacob, I'm disappointed in you.”

“We're done for today. The proposal? I need to reconsider.”

I turned to leave, but Ella grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

“You don't get to walk without paying up! Jacob saved for three months to buy me these shoes, and your little bastard just stepped all over them—pay up!”

“Plus two hundred thousand for emotional damages. Every last cent!”

Ella arched a brow, eyes sharp and calculating. “The house is covered—we've got one in the village. But the wedding car should be on you. A man of Jacob's caliber deserves at least a BMW, three hundred thousand minimum.”

“Add it all up, that's five hundred and eighteen thousand, not a penny less. You don't hand over the cash today, you don't leave.”

I barely even heard the rest of what Ella said.

My ears were ringing. I raised my head and asked one more time to be sure. “You said those shoes—Jacob saved three months to buy them for you?”

Ella lifted her chin, face bright with triumph. “He took me to the boutique counter himself—picked these out just for me!”

“You and I are not the same. A thirty-dollar fake diamond ring? That's about all you deserve.”

I looked at Jacob. Said nothing. Just looked at him.

His eyes flickered, and he turned away from mine. “You said you didn't mind the fake ring. I told you I'd buy you a real one once I had the money.”

I understood now.

Eighteen hundred dollars on shoes, just like that.

But in his heart, a thirty-dollar fake ring really was all I was worth.

The suffocation pressed hard against my chest. I kept going. “And the three-hundred-thousand-dollar car she mentioned? The two hundred thousand in emotional damages? You think I should pay that too?”

A long silence. Then Jacob finally spoke.

“Roberta, Ella's just looking out for me.”

“She was worried I'd get taken advantage of, so she rushed over to set these conditions.”

“I mean, it's all going to be shared marital property anyway, right? You're just handing it over to me a little early—letting me hold on to it for us.”

My whole body went numb. I stared straight into his eyes.

Calm. Untroubled. Not a trace of shame.

He genuinely agreed with everything Ella had done. Every word he'd just said was what he actually believed.

I had thought Jacob was steady and resilient and driven—considerate to me, endlessly patient and gentle with my daughter. The kind of man who would make a perfect husband and father.

I'd been wrong.

There was no point wasting another second.

I didn't bother with one more word. I picked up my daughter and turned to leave.

What I never expected was that Ella would be crazy enough to rip her straight out of my arms.

She gripped the back of Mia's collar, face twisted with disgust.

“Until that money hits the account, you and this little bastard aren't going anywhere!”

Mia's face went white. She burst into tears, screaming for me, struggling to reach my arms—and Ella slapped her so hard she hit the ground.

“Cry again, you little mongrel. Try me.”

From the day she was born, my daughter had been treasured by everyone around her. I had never once raised my voice at her.

And now a stranger had hurt her, again and again.

Rage hit me like a wall of heat.

They wanted money that badly? Fine. I'd give it to them.

Not just the money. The redevelopment project would go forward too, and I'd release the funds immediately.

I wanted to see if they could actually claw their way into high society.

I took out my phone, made the call, then reached for my daughter.

Ella saw me move without a word and assumed I was trying to grab Mia back without paying. She raised her hand and charged at me.

But at the last second, a ringtone cut through the room.

Ella picked up. From the other end, a man's voice bellowed, “Something huge just happened!”

She stood frozen for a few seconds, then blurted, “What happened? Is it the redevelopment project?”

As she spoke, her eyes slid toward me, and for once, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face.

The voice on the other end rushed through the news in a panic, paused for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. “It is the redevelopment thing, but I don't know what the hell got into the people up top. They just pushed the funds through, clean and fast, out of nowhere.”

“Didn't even go through the usual process. And get this, they sent down an extra five million!”

His voice dropped low. “And I already moved on it. Skimmed the whole five million for us.”

Ella gasped. “All five million……?!”

Her gaze darted around the room. She cupped the phone close, lowered her voice. Then, slowly, the shock on her face curdled into something harder. She turned and looked at me the way someone looks at trash.

“You heard all that, right? That's the league my family plays in now. And you? You're not even in the same category.”

I let the corner of my mouth curl, and I smiled at her.

“Well then, clearly I'm not worthy.”

I'd specifically had them transfer an extra five million just to see how far this family's stupidity would go.

They did not disappoint. Hopeless, every last one of them.

Five million might not buy your way into high society, but it could absolutely buy you a life sentence.

Ella laughed even harder, practically giddy with herself.

“You know what, forget the money. Just leave the little bastard behind. Jacob's younger brother is intellectually disabled—can't exactly find a wife, can he? This kid's decent-looking enough. We'll take her home, raise her a few years, and she'll make a perfect child bride!”

That crossed my final line.

I pulled my sobbing daughter into my arms and held her until her crying eased, then let my gaze sweep slowly from Ella to Jacob.

“Ella, this is Kingsport. I'd suggest you think very carefully about consequences before you open your mouth again.”

“Cross the wrong person here, and the consequences will bury you.”

I held on to my last thread of patience. “Don't worry about me walking through your family's door. I won't. We've always been from two different worlds, and after today, we won't cross paths again.”

“As for the redevelopment money you keep going on about, I couldn't care less. This circus ends now.”

Before Ella could get a word out, Jacob's expression changed first.

Disbelief edged into his voice. “What do you mean, 'two different worlds'?”

“I grew up in a village, sure, but I got into college on my own merit. I have a real job. I've never so much as looked at another woman. I never once held your record against you, and now you're going to talk down to me like that?”

“Say what you actually mean.”

What I'd actually meant was to end this relationship with some dignity intact.

I hadn't expected Jacob's pride to flare up so fast, twisting my words into some imagined slight.

If I really had a superiority complex, a man like him wouldn't have gotten within arm's reach of me without me lowering myself first. He could work hard for another hundred years and still never earn the right to speak a single word to me.

I was too tired to even be angry. “What I mean is, we're breaking up. We're not right for each other.”

That was when Jacob actually lost it.

The words came tumbling out. “What part of what Ella said was wrong?”

“Before my brother's accident, he was the most promising kid in the whole village—tall, good-looking, on track for college. And with that five million plus the redevelopment payout? Your daughter's pampered, she's frail—if my brother weren't disabled, where would you even find someone with conditions like that?”

“Roberta, can you stop being so selfish and just think about someone other than yourself for once?”

Twice in a single afternoon, someone had laid claim to my daughter like she was theirs to dispose of. And both times, they'd said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I couldn't have dreamed this up if I'd tried.

I was done talking. I took out my phone right in front of them.

“Notify the Legal Department. Investigate exactly where the redevelopment funds went. If anyone embezzled a single cent, file charges immediately.”

“And send word down: the South Bay Village redevelopment project is permanently shut down.”

Ella doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach, and tugged at Jacob's sleeve.

“Jacob, did you hear that? She's still playing pretend! Go ahead, really shut it down. Oh no, I'm so scared!”

When she'd finally laughed herself out, she turned back to me, face dripping with contempt.

“You cheap little tramp. Who the hell do you think you are, trying to break up with Jacob?”

“Fine, you want to leave? Good. We don't keep trash around anyway. But my brother's a virgin. He's not getting used for free by some secondhand slut like you. Five hundred thousand in damages. One penny short, and you don't walk out of here alive.”

I genuinely had not imagined that hiding my identity to date someone could attract this level of insanity.

I swallowed the fury rising in my chest and gave it one last try.

“Jacob, do you also think I tainted you? That I owe you compensation?”

Ella stepped in front of Jacob, sneering one cold laugh after another.