---- Chapter 9 Abby Talley POV: A wave of pure disgust washed over me. | recoiled from the ring as if it were a venomous snake. Connor' s grand, public gesture wasn' t romantic; it was a desperate, pathetic power play. "What about Jana?" | asked, my voice laced with ice. | gestured to my cousin, who stood frozen, her face a mask of disbelief and horror. "The woman you were comforting just last night?" Connor didn't even glance at her. "She means nothing to me!" he cried, his voice ringing with a false sincerity that made my stomach turn. "It was always you, Abby. Only you. | was just trying to... to test you. To test us." Jana let out a choked sob. "Test me? You told me you loved me! You promised you would leave her for me!" Connor's head whipped around, his face contorting with rage. "Shut up, you stupid girl!" He scrambled to his feet and, in a motion that was terrifyingly familiar, he slapped her. Hard. The sound echoed in the hallway. Jana stumbled back, a hand flying to her cheek, tears streaming down her face. ---- "This is your fault!" he shrieked at her, his voice cracking. "If you hadn' t been so needy, so clingy, she would have never chosen him! You ruined everything!" He turned back to me, his expression shifting back to one of desperate longing. "You see, Abby? I' m getting rid of the problem. For you. For us." He spat the words at Jana. "You are nothing. You are a nobody. You think wearing designer dresses and borrowing my name makes you one of us? You are the daughter of a disgraced, bankrupt branch of the family. You have nothing. You are not worthy of being my wife." Jana' s face went bone-white. The public declaration of her humble origins, a secret she had guarded so fiercely, had shattered her completely. | remembered all the times | had defended her, all the money | had spent to ensure she had the same clothes, the same opportunities as me. | had treated her like a sister. And she had betrayed me for this man. Jana stared at Connor, her mouth opening and closing, but no words came out. He had built her up only to destroy her in front of an audience. | had seen enough. This grotesque theater had gone on long enough. | turned to leave, to retreat into the sanctity of my room. "Don' t you walk away from me!" Connor grabbed my arm, spinning me around. ---- | yanked my arm free. "Don' t touch me," | said, my voice dangerously low. "In two weeks, | will be your sister-in-law. You would do well to remember that." | looked him dead in the eye. "There is one thing you will never have, Connor." "Anything," he breathed, his eyes wide with hope. 'I'll give you anything." "You can' t give me what you don' t possess," | said coolly. "You will never have a second chance." | turned from him and addressed the stunned onlookers in the hall. "My wedding to Brannon Walls will take place in the main cathedral in two weeks. | expect you all to be there." It was a command, not an invitation. | swept into my room and shut the door on the wreckage of his life. "Guard," | called through the door. "Do not let anyone enter my suite." Later, the head of security reported to me. Connor had been forcibly removed from the premises. Jana had simply... disappeared, melting back into the shadows from which she came. No one knew where she went. | felt nothing. No pity, no satisfaction. Just a vast, empty calm.