Arabelle’s best friend was the first to charge over and slap me hard across the face.
“I knew you had bad intentions! You faked fainting just to win pity, didn’t you? So Jaxon wouldn’t send you to the Montgomery family?”
Suddenly, the entire banquet hall turned into a storm of righteous fury. People grabbed whatever they could reach, pastries, glasses, scraps, and hurled them at me without mercy.
Cream and cake splattered across my body. I crouched in shame, trembling, clutching my injuries as laughter and scorn rained down like knives.
Then, a pair of leather shoes came into view, cold, polished, and unforgiving. They stopped in front of me.
Jaxon stepped forward and lifted his foot, then slammed it down on my head.
His sole ground into my scalp, forcing my head low until my cheek smeared against the sticky cream on the floor. The humiliation was bone-deep, unbearable.
“You actually dared to hurt Arabelle? You’ve got some nerve. Did you think gaining my sympathy meant you could stay? Dream on. Get out. From this day on, there’s nothing between us!”
He pulled his foot away. I gritted my teeth against the pain and slowly stood, staring him down. My voice was steady, each word sharp and final. “Fine, as you wish. From now on, we are completely done.”
As long as I could marry that vegetative man and bring Callum back, I could vanish from this cruel world. I no longer needed to trail behind Jaxon, scraping for scraps. I was finally free, and I could walk away whenever I pleased.
Jaxon looked stunned as if he couldn’t believe I had the nerve to talk back. Then he sneered coldly. “I’d like to see how long that stubborn mouth of yours lasts. Don’t come crying to me later, begging me to take you back!”
“Don’t worry. I’ve promised to marry into the Montgomery family. I won’t go back on my word. I won’t pester you again.”
Without another glance, I turned on my heel and pushed open the Aldridge family’s doors under the weight of countless gazes.
I walked out, head held high, not once looking back.
Mocking voices rang behind me like sharp thorns:
“Leave her! Let her go! She dared to hurt Sister Arabelle; breaking her legs would be doing her a favor.”
“Young Master Jaxon, don’t worry. She’ll be back, crying within three days.”