I grew up bouncing between continents. My mother, Vivian, terrified I’d bring home a bohemian artist or, God forbid, someone who didn’t understand the rules of the Metropolitan Elite, settled the matter herself. She’d found me a fiancé—a man of status and impeccable pedigree—and demanded I return to Manhattan’s high society for the engagement. I was at a flagship boutique on Fifth Avenue, looking for an engagement dress. I spotted a stunning ivory silk bustier gown. Just as I reached for it, preparing to try it on, a woman nearby glanced at the dress in my hand. “That style is actually rather chic,” she announced to the attendant. “Bring it over. I want to try it.” The attendant, without a word, snatched the gown rudely out of my grasp. “Excuse me?” I said, bristling. “There’s a clear first-come, first-served rule here. I had it first. Do you people have any sense of decency?” She looked me up and down with utter contempt. “That dress is worth twenty-five thousand dollars. Could a pauper like you even afford the sales tax?” She tossed her perfectly coiled hair. “I’m Savannah Reed, the Devlin Group CEO Brooks Devlin’s Ward. In this city, the only 'decency' that matters is what the Devlin family decides it is.” Well, wasn't that convenient? Brooks Devlin was the man I was supposed to marry. I immediately pulled out my phone and called him. “Your Ward just stole my engagement dress. How exactly do you intend to handle this?” 1 The word “Ward,” when she said it, always sounded less like a relative and more like an indiscretion wrapped in an expensive label. If Brooks couldn't offer a solid, respectable explanation for this whole mess, our engagement was clearly off. But to my surprise, Brooks's voice on the other end was frigid. “Who is this? And since when do you, an outsider, get to weigh in on my relationship with Savannah?” I was about to snap that I was his fiancée when he simply hung up. My jaw dropped. The nerve. Not only did he allow his "Ward" to harass me, but he hadn't even bothered to save my number. Savannah, watching the whole exchange, dissolved into delighted laughter. “Bitch! Did you really think getting ahold of Brooks’s number meant you could hitch your wagon to the Devlin star? Dream on.” Her eyes raked over my simple, comfortable outfit. “Even the janitors at the Devlin Group wear pricier things than that.” I’d always prioritized comfort and simplicity over designer labels. It had never occurred to me that one day, my outfit would be used as a weapon against me. “It’s the 21st century, and you’re still pulling the ‘judge-a-book-by-its-cover’ routine,” I shot back. “Brooks must be blind to keep a judgmental waste of space like you around.” The argument had thoroughly killed my interest in the dress. I took it from the sales rack, intending to buy it immediately. The counter clerk looked hesitant. “Ma’am, our store gives priority to our Black Diamond Tier members.” Savannah’s smile widened smugly. She pulled a gleaming, invitation-only card from her clutch and slammed it onto the glass counter. “A million-dollar deposit to even apply for this tier. What are you waiting for, you poor trash?” I am generally not a confrontational person. But Savannah Reed had succeeded in unleashing my fury. I retrieved my sleek, unmarked Centurion Card and handed it to the clerk, keeping my voice level despite the adrenaline rush. “Enroll me. Max membership. And then package this dress for me.” Savannah leaned in, her voice a low threat to the clerk. “Manhattan belongs to the Devlins. If you sell that dress to her, my Brooks will buy this entire boutique tomorrow and have you all fired.” The clerk recoiled slightly. “I’m just an employee, ma’am. I truly cannot afford to cross the Devlin Group.” The crowd that had gathered began whispering. “I’ve seen Miss Reed a few times. Mr. Devlin is completely obsessed with her.” “Someone crossed her last year and was ruined. Bankrupted.” “Even if she has some money, it’s nothing compared to the Devlin empire. Just apologize, sweetie. Beg her to let you go.” Savannah was preening, her head tilted back, soaking up the validation. “Bitch, get down on your knees. Shout ‘I am a pathetic phony and I was wrong’ three times. Maybe then I’ll consider granting you mercy.” Twenty-six years on this earth, and this was the first time someone had dared to be this arrogantly insolent in front of me. “Say that again,” I prompted, a slow smile touching my lips. “What am I supposed to shout?” “Are you deaf? ‘I am a pathetic phony and I was wrong!’ Can’t you hear those words?” I allowed the smile to turn into a full, cold smirk. “I heard you perfectly. Since you already know you’re a pathetic phony, why don’t you just get lost and stop cluttering up my sightline?” The realization hit Savannah instantly. She had been played. She shrieked, windmilling her arms as she rushed toward me. It was laughable. She was a stage-four amateur. I'm a black belt. I delivered a clean, hard side-kick. Savannah crumpled to the marble floor, shrieking. A collective gasp went up from the onlookers. “Oh my God! How could she do that to Miss Reed?” “If Mr. Devlin hears about this, he’ll have her shredded.” “The Lord himself couldn’t save her now.” Their panic didn't move me. The Devlin family’s entire standing in this city was, as I knew, indirectly dependent on my mother. There was no one here I needed to fear. I slapped my card back on the counter. “Checkout. Now.” The clerk was trembling, but she processed the payment, bagged the gown, and handed it to me. I picked up the dress and turned to leave. But Savannah, scrambling back up, blocked my way again. “You can’t just walk away!” I raised my hand and wiggled my fingers in front of her face. “Want to test my hands again?” She flinched back instantly. I scoffed and stepped toward the exit. Just then, a sleek, black Bentley pulled up outside. The first thing that hit the Fifth Avenue sidewalk was a custom, thin-soled leather loafer—Bottega, probably. That’s when the relief hit, a physical gasp in my chest. I followed the line of the leg up, feeling a sudden rush of anticipation. He was easily six-foot-three, broad-shouldered, and lean. And the face. Chiseled, perfect angles. A 360-degree knockout. Savannah immediately dissolved into theatrics, running over to cling to his arm. “Brooksie! She took the dress I wanted and she kicked me!” So, this was my fiancé. I am, admittedly, a sucker for a beautiful face. Brooks Devlin’s looks were exactly the kind of jawline-and-smoldering-eyes that made my pulse jump. For this face, I could almost forgive his earlier rudeness. I offered what I thought was my most charming smile. “Hello. I’m Audrey Bellwether. Your fiancée.” No wonder Mom was so confident I’d approve. She really did know me too well. The onlookers gasped again. “What?! She’s the Devlin CEO’s fiancée?” “A fiancée beats a Ward, right? No wonder she’s so confident.” “Maybe. It depends on who he favors more.” Brooks’s gaze landed on me, and his voice was cold, dismissive. “Don’t flatter yourself. That contract was forced by my father. I never agreed to it.” Savannah draped herself intimately over his shoulder, her eyes burning with pure triumph. “Look at you. You’re such an ugly duckling. Brooks would never marry you.” Someone in the crowd chimed in. “Exactly! Mr. Devlin is going to marry an actual society princess. Not this peasant.” “She’s so low-class, she probably couldn’t even get a job sweeping floors at the Devlin offices.” I knew I wasn't a goddess, but I was definitely not ugly. Why, in their mouths, did I sound like something scraped off the bottom of a shoe? The human tendency to latch onto power and crush the weak was truly vile. “Brooks Devlin,” I said, looking him dead in the eye. “Go tell your father that I am breaking off this engagement. You’re not good enough for me.” I knew my mother had made his father jump through hoops to secure this alliance. If his son had ruined it, there would be hell to pay. The thought cheered me slightly. I was done with these idiots. I turned to walk away. But Savannah, emboldened by the presence of her man, blocked my exit again. “You’re not going anywhere, bitch! You stole my dress and hit me. We’re not done settling the score.” I looked at her with disdain. “How do you propose to settle it?” Thinking I was intimidated, she raised her hand to slap me. “By hitting you until I’m satisfied.” I intercepted her wrist with one hand and delivered a sharp, clean slap across her cheek with the other. She stared at me, disbelief twisting her features. “You—you hit a—” I reversed the movement and hit her again, harder. I asked, my voice low and dangerous, “Are you satisfied now?” The two slaps thoroughly extinguished her bravado. She whimpered and scrambled to hide behind Brooks. “Brooksie! You have to protect me!” Brooks pulled her protectively into his arms, then glared at me. “You dare lay a hand on my person? You must have a death wish.” He signaled his bodyguards behind him to grab me. I managed to take out the first one, but I was quickly overwhelmed. They were professionals. After a few solid blows, I was on the ground. Two of them hauled me up, dragging me back in front of Brooks and Savannah. Brooks gave Savannah a sympathetic look. “Go on, Sav. Settle it. Do whatever you want. I’ll take care of the fallout.” That was all the assurance she needed. She swung her arm, slapping me twice, then spat a stream of saliva right onto my face. “Bitch! You were so tough a minute ago! Where’s that attitude now?” Then, she kicked me hard in the lower abdomen. Clutching my stomach, the pain blinding me, I looked up at both of them. “You will both regret this. I swear, I will never let you get away with this!” Savannah laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “The Devlin family is one of the three pillars of power in this city! What are you, a street urchin, going to do against us?” “Today, I’m going to make sure you remember what it costs to cross me!” She pulled a silver nail file—no, a set of clippers—from her purse and dragged the sharp edge across my cheek. A searing heat erupted, and my skin swelled, blood quickly beading along the line. “I told her not to cross the Devlins,” a woman whispered mournfully. “What a shame. Such a lovely face. Now it’s ruined.” “We common people just have to know when to keep our heads down.” Savannah raised the clippers for another swipe. The sheer terror of being permanently scarred seized me. I immediately started pleading. “I’m sorry. The dress is yours. I shouldn’t have fought you for it.” Not a gentleman's revenge; a quiet one. But Savannah carved another line across my face. “Too late for apologies, bitch! I’m not done until I’ve satisfied my rage!” I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat. I looked at Brooks. “Brooks Devlin, don’t you care who I am? Allowing her to do this to me—you will regret it!” He looked disgusted. “Your identity? You mean your tramp of a mother, who sweet-talked my old man until he lost his mind and forced this engagement? That identity?” Savannah's eyes glinted with malice. “A gold-digger’s daughter. You must be a little gold-digger yourself. I think we need to strip you down and wash the stench off you!” “No!” Just then, my cell phone rang inside my purse. I struggled frantically, but Savannah snatched it before I could reach it. She swiped the answer button. My mother’s voice, calm and warm, filled the air. “Audrey, how did the dress shopping go?” I screamed into the phone. “Mom! Please, help me! I’m being beaten, and they’re going to strip me!” Vivian’s voice snapped with immediate panic. “What! Who is doing this?” Savannah’s voice, arrogant and loud, cut across the line. “It’s me, your worst nightmare! Your little gold-digger is out here soliciting attention, so I’m giving her a lesson in manners!” My mother's voice was deadly quiet. “I don’t care who you are. Release my daughter immediately, or when I get there, you’ll be the one learning a lesson.” “Oh, do come over! I’ll be right here waiting for you, witch. I’ll peel the skin right off you both!” Smash. Savannah slammed the phone down, shattering it. She backhanded me again. “You two are cut from the same trashy cloth! When your mother gets here, I’ll strip her too!” Time crawled by. It felt like half a century, though barely five minutes had passed. Finally, a familiar, armored Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled into the loading zone outside the boutique. My mother, Vivian, pushed the car door open and stepped out. “I’d like to see who is planning to peel my skin.” The moment I saw her, the shame and pain of the last hour collapsed into pure relief. “Mom!” I choked out. Vivian rushed toward me, pulling me into her embrace. Finally, nestled in her familiar, expensive scent, I felt safe. The onlookers gasped again, their whispers changing direction. “Look at that car! That’s a custom-armored Phantom. Global limited edition.” “Only old-money or serious power owns a car like that. Miss Reed might have just kicked a steel plate.” “A steel plate? No one is harder than the Devlins!” Savannah was of the same mind. She marched right up to my mother, oblivious to the danger. “So, you’re the old witch. Your daughter tried to steal the dress I wanted and she attacked me. Tell me, how exactly are you going to pay for this?” Vivian simply raised an eyebrow. “Tell me. How do you want to be paid?” Savannah, mistaking my mother’s stillness for fear, crowed her demands. “The dress has been touched, so you owe me ten times the price for compensation. For the two bruises I got, she needs to kneel before me, kiss my shoes, and give herself twenty open-hand slaps. Most importantly, the engagement to Brooks is canceled.” She made a grand, condescending gesture. “If you agree to all of this, I’ll be merciful and let you leave the store. Otherwise, neither of you is walking out of here.” My mother, hearing the sheer gall of the demands, actually started to laugh. She patted my shoulder reassuringly, then walked slowly toward Savannah. “The engagement between Audrey and Brooks will certainly be called off, because Brooks Devlin is utterly unworthy of being my son-in-law. As for the rest of your demands…” Vivian raised her hand and delivered a savage, precise slap across Savannah’s face. “You can forget about them. The only people not walking out of here today will be you.” Savannah was stunned for a second, then tried to retaliate. One of my mother's bodyguards moved with lightning speed, kicking Savannah’s legs out from under her, forcing her to her knees. Her arms were pinned behind her like steel restraints. “Brooksie, it hurts! Help me!” Savannah cried out, looking up at him. Brooks signaled his own bodyguards, but they were quickly dispatched by Vivian’s team. Within moments, Brooks Devlin was also forced to his knees, pinned directly in front of me. My mother slapped Brooks with equal force. “Since you were a child, I haven’t allowed a single finger to be laid on my daughter. You allowed her to be subjected to this humiliation. You will pay for it tenfold, a hundredfold!” Brooks shouted defiantly. “I’m the CEO of the Devlin Group! You crazy old woman—do you have any idea the consequences of hitting me?” “You dare to hurt my daughter? I wouldn’t hesitate to slap your father just as hard if he were here!” The crowd gasped again.
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