"Go ahead and smash whatever you want. If it makes you feel better."

"When you're done, sign the agreement."

Ferdinand turned to leave.

I grabbed the nearest thing I could reach and hurled it at him. The ashtray shattered on the floor right in front of his feet.

"Ferdinand! What did you promise me?"

Normally, I prided myself on being unshakable. The sky could fall and my expression wouldn't change.

But now, over a man, I'd completely lost control.

My eyes were red-rimmed, my voice raw as I demanded answers.

"You swore to me. You swore that after that night, you were done with Mabel."

"Then why is she pregnant?"

"Why are you trying to force me to sign this agreement for a woman who should mean nothing to you?"

Ferdinand's brow furrowed.

"Georgette, are you done throwing your tantrum?"

"I told you, I was going to cut things off with her for good. But then the accident happened."

"She's pregnant."

That was all he said.

That night, they hadn't used any protection.

But he didn't know.

That night, I'd been searching everywhere for him. I'd called him all night long.

There had been reports of a man in a car accident on Silverbridge Avenue. The description of the victim—his clothes, his car, every detail—matched Ferdinand.

I'd been out of my mind with panic. I drove straight to the scene, only to be blocked by the barricade and unable to get through.

I called Ferdinand one hundred and nine times. Every single one went unanswered.

His phone sat on a couch somewhere, ringing over and over.

While the two of them burned through the night together.

It wasn't until dawn, when I was sitting outside the police station with dark circles carved under my eyes, that I finally received Ferdinand's reply. Casual. Offhand.

"Fell asleep last night. Sorry."

And at almost the same moment his text came through, so did a video from Mabel James, the intern.

"So sorry, Ms. Pruitt."

"Someone slipped something into my drink last night, and I slept till noon. My back's still killing me..."

"My boyfriend told me to take the day off."

And there, in the background of her video, clear as day, was Ferdinand's face.

That was the moment it hit me. Like lightning splitting me open from the inside.

I went straight to the office and slapped Mabel across the face. Twice.

"'Wanting to meet more people and learn new things'? Seducing my fiancé was the real reason you wanted to attend that gala, wasn't it?"

Mabel staggered from the blows, clutching her cheek, tears streaming down in a portrait of wounded innocence.

"Ms. Pruitt, how can you accuse me like this?"

"Someone drugged me that night. I was a victim too... Mr. Gilbert just saw how much I was suffering and happened to help me, that's all."

"Ms. Pruitt, you're a woman too. Don't you have any empathy at all?"

She sobbed and wailed that she couldn't bear to stay at the company anymore. That to defend her innocence and dignity, she'd rather throw herself off the building.

And Ferdinand walked in on the scene at exactly that moment.

His expression went cold. He pulled Mabel behind him, shielding her, then turned on me with a voice like a blade.

"Georgette, what have you become?"

"You're the CEO of this company. You're bullying a young intern in front of the entire staff. Can you live with yourself?"

"I told you—that night, I was the one who chose to help Mabel."

Three simple sentences.

They confirmed every rumor that had been swirling.

And they turned me into the laughingstock of the entire company.

In that moment, I was utterly shattered. And yet I laughed.

"Ferdinand Gilbert. You really are something."

That same day, in a fury, I canceled every partnership between the Pruitt family and the Gilberts.

When I got home, my father was already waiting. He tore into me the second I walked through the door.

"Georgette Pruitt, look at what you've done!"

"You're not a child anymore. How could you let your emotions cloud your judgment like this?"

"I used to brag about you, said you were more and more like me in my younger days, that one day you'd make a worthy heir to the Pruitt name. Then you pull a stunt like this? Do you have any idea how that makes me look?"

My father had me sent to the family chapel to kneel in penance. Family disciplinary rites.

The outcome was exactly what you'd expect.

The partnership between the Pruitt family and the Gilberts was restored.

My anger meant nothing. Less than nothing.

And now Ferdinand was certain that marrying him was still my best option.

That was why he was so confident I'd cave.

He watched me for a long time, his gaze flat and unhurried. Then a faint sigh slipped from his lips.

"Georgette, don't be difficult. Think it over, then sign the agreement."

"Can't we just go back to the way things were?"

His phone rang. He froze for a second, then answered without hesitation.

"Mabel, don't be scared. I'll come stay with you tonight..."

His footsteps carried him away, light and eager.

The sound faded until there was nothing left.

I lifted my eyes slowly and caught my own reflection in the glass across the room. Gaunt. Hollow. A bitter laugh escaped me.

Mabel James. A mere intern.

She'd turned a perfectly good birthday dinner into a disaster.

And now my marriage. My entire life.

She'd sent it all spiraling out of control.

After Ferdinand left, he didn't come back. Not for an entire week.

I heard that within three days, he'd spent thirty million dollars buying Mabel a brand-new mansion, keeping her tucked away in luxury like a hidden treasure.

"Ms. Pruitt, Mr. Gilbert actually came to our office and warned us directly. He said you'd better not fire Mabel James, or he'd personally intervene. Should we still go ahead with the termination we discussed yesterday?"

My assistant looked at me, uneasy.

I closed my eyes. "Leave me."

The document in my hand crumpled into a useless ball. I tossed it into the trash.

I just couldn't accept that six years of love had been wasted. That someone had stolen what was mine right out from under me.

I'd been exceptional my whole life. In every arena, I'd never lost to anyone.

So how had I lost to some nobody intern?

If I called off the engagement, it would inevitably deal a serious blow to both families' business interests.

I wasn't ready to give up that easily.

The agreement Ferdinand had sent over remained unsigned.

I sent him a message. Let's find a time to sit down and talk.

He replied quickly.

I happen to have business at your office around noon today. We can meet there.

As noon approached, I was waiting for Ferdinand when a commotion erupted outside my office.

"What's going on?"

My assistant rushed in, flustered.

"It's that intern, Mabel James. She's claiming she got food poisoning from seafood, and she's demanding that you take responsibility, Ms. Pruitt."

"But the company lunch we ordered didn't even have seafood..."

I frowned and started toward the door, but Ferdinand was already pushing his way in.

He saw Mabel slumped against a coworker's shoulder, sobbing.

"It was Ms. Pruitt. She knew I was allergic to seafood and she still forced me to eat that company lunch..."

Ferdinand's expression darkened until it looked like a storm about to break.

"Georgette, what the hell is going on?"

I looked at the lunch container on the table. I'd never seen it before. My brow furrowed.

"This has nothing to do with me."

Before I could finish, Mabel threw herself into Ferdinand's arms, crying.

"Ms. Pruitt must have found out about that night between us. She's trying to destroy me! I feel so sick, I can barely breathe..."

Ferdinand's expression changed instantly. He scooped Mabel into his arms and shouted, "Call an ambulance. Now!"

When they came out of the hospital, his face was still dark as a storm.

He walked right past me. Brushed my shoulder without so much as a glance. From start to finish, he never once looked at me.

"Ferdinand!"

I called after him, my eyes burning red.

He stopped mid-stride and turned, giving me a single cold look.

"Georgette, I haven't even had the chance to settle the score with you yet, and here you come waltzing in on your own."

I stood frozen. The indifference in his eyes, the detachment, made him feel like a stranger.

"It wasn't me—"

I tried to explain on instinct, but he cut me off.

"You're still going to deny it?"

His expression turned glacial.

"Georgette, you're ruthless in business. You know how the world works. When you do something wrong, you face the consequences."

The moment the words left his mouth, the bodyguards around us closed in.

The blood drained from my face.

"Ferdinand, can you use your head for one second? Why would I ever order seafood for a company lunch?"

But he wasn't listening.

"Because you couldn't fire Mabel. Because you're jealous that she's pregnant. So you came up with this disgusting scheme to torment her."

"You nearly killed her. You think there shouldn't be consequences?"

Ferdinand stepped forward himself and pressed his hand down on the back of my head.

He forced me to my knees. To apologize to Mabel.

"Mabel may only be an intern, but she has her dignity."

"Whether or not you ever become Mrs. Gilbert, the first thing you need to learn is basic human decency."

"So. Apologize."

Humiliation flooded through me, wave after wave, endless and suffocating.

I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted iron.

"Ferdinand, in your dreams."

"Isn't this what you've always wanted? To break off the engagement? Fine. I'll grant you that wish."

I tilted my chin up to look at him.

Ferdinand seized my jaw in one hand. "Even without your permission, whatever I want to do, I'll do."

He had his men throw me into a walk-in freezer. Called it a two-hour "reflection period."

"Mabel is carrying a child. This is only a warning."

"She works at your company. She may just be an intern, but I want you to understand exactly what she means to me."

"I expect nothing like today to ever happen again."

When I finally stumbled out of that freezer, my entire body was shaking. My teeth chattered so violently I couldn't clench them still.

Ferdinand had sent my driver and my car away.

I pulled out my phone with trembling fingers to call a ride. A new Instagram story from Mabel popped up on my screen.

"Thank you to our Mr. Gilbert for the homemade lunch box he made with his own hands. Being his little wifey is the best..."

"And our little baby in Mommy's tummy should remember to thank Daddy too!"

My grip tightened around the phone until my knuckles cracked.

Ferdinand hadn't agreed outright to break off the engagement.

But I'd swallowed enough. I refused to be the only one choking on this humiliation.

They'd used this to make me sick.

I was going to make them just as sick.

So when Ferdinand found me that night, I was wearing a slinky little slip dress, swaying on the dance floor, surrounded by a handful of pretty young male models.

His face went black as thunder.

He stormed over and yanked me off the floor.

"Georgette, are you drunk? Let me sober you up."

He grabbed a glass from the nearest table and threw the contents in my face.

But I just laughed. Wild, reckless, unrestrained. I grabbed him by the collar and leaned in close, deliberately goading him.

"Weren't you the one who said it? We can keep the engagement in name only. So what's the harm in me ordering a few pretty boys?"