---- Chapter 7 | walked for hours, the rain soaking me to the bone, before finally taking a taxi back to the house. It was almost dawn when | let myself in. The house was quiet, but a light was on in the master bedroom. Their bedroom now. | went to my small guest room, stripped off my wet clothes, and took the hottest shower | could stand, scrubbing my skin until it was raw, trying to wash away the filth of the night. When | came out, wrapped in a towel, Garrison was standing in my doorway. "There you are," he said. He had the gall to look relieved. "| was worried." "Were you?" | asked, my voice flat. He stepped into the room, his eyes roaming over my body. "You know," he murmured, his voice turning thick, "you're beautiful when you're angry." He reached for me, his hand closing around my arm. "Keyla's asleep. We have the house to ourselves." The touch of his skin on mine was repulsive. All | could see was him selling me, him kissing her, him destroying my life. ---- Something inside me snapped. | swung my free hand, my palm connecting with his cheek with a loud crack. His head snapped to the side, a look of shocked disbelief on his face. Before he could react, a figure appeared in the doorway. It was Keyla, wrapped in his silk dressing gown. "Garrison, darling, what was that noise?" she asked, her voice sleepy. Then she saw my hand, still raised With a theatrical cry, she threw herself in front of him. "Don't hurt him!" | hadn't even moved. She stumbled, clutching her shoulder as if | had struck her. "Ow! My arm! The one she hurt before! | think she's broken it again!" She collapsed into Garrison's arms, sobbing hysterically. His face, which had been stunned, twisted into a mask of pure fury. He looked at me with such hatred that | took an involuntary step back. "You bitch," he snarled. He shoved me, hard. | fell backward, my head hitting the wall with a sickening thud. The room spun, and black spots danced in front of my eyes. ---- "You're nothing but trouble," he spat, standing over me. "I should have had you committed months ago." | looked up at him from the floor, a slow, mocking smile spreading across my face. "Wasn't that always the plan, Garrison?" | pushed myself up, my head pounding. "Or was the plan to just pimp me out to your business associates whenever Keyla wanted a new necklace?" The words hit their mark. A flicker of shame, of guilt, crossed his face. It was there for only a second, but | saw it. Keyla saw it too. "Garrison, don't listen to her," she cried, pulling on his arm. "She's just trying to hurt you. She's jealous of us." That was all it took. The guilt vanished, replaced by cold resolve. He chose her. Again. "You're right," he said, his voice low. He scooped her into his arms. "She's hysterical." He started to carry her out of the room, but paused at the door. He looked back at me, his eyes cold and hard. "You know | have the photos, Janette," he said quietly. "Don't ever forget that. One word from me, and your reputation, your family's name, will be dragged through the mud forever." | just stared at him, my silence unnerving him more than any ---- screaming match could. "As punishment for this," he said, his voice turning cruel, "you will go outside and kneel in the courtyard. In the rain. You will stay there until | tell you to get up." He turned and left, carrying his precious, sobbing burden down the hall. | slowly got to my feet, my head throbbing. | walked to the window and looked out at the stone courtyard. The rain was coming down in sheets now, cold and relentless. For a moment, | considered refusing. But that would be the end. He would call his doctors, his security. My plan would be over before it began. So | put on a thin dress, walked downstairs, and stepped out into the storm. | knelt on the hard, wet cobblestones. The cold seeped into my bones immediately. The rain beat down on my head and shoulders, plastering my dress to my skin. | looked up at the master bedroom window. | could see their silhouettes. Garrison was standing behind Keyla, his arms wrapped around her, as they looked down at me. They were watching. Keyla pointed at me and said something. Garrison nodded. This was my life now. A spectacle of humiliation for their amusement. ---- | closed my eyes and let the rain wash over me. | wasn't kneeling for him. | wasn't being punished. | was being baptized. In this cold, miserable rain, | was washing away the last of Janette Gardner. | had finalized the documents with a lawyer my mother had once recommended, a woman Garrison didn't know. My "suicide note" was scheduled to post. The hidden camera from the yacht was in a safe place. Everything was ready. This was the last night. The last storm | would ever endure as his wife. | would make my final move at Keyla's birthday party, the real one, tonight on a yacht. A grand affair where he planned to announce their... relationship. | would give them a finale they would never forget. | opened my eyes and looked up at the window. Let them watch. Let them think they had won. Their downfall was coming. And it would be glorious. Freelance photographer Violet Beck is forced into an engagement with CEO Roy Payne. He is everything her wild heart rebels against: proper, predictable, and painfully kind. But love has a way of devel...