Chapter 3

"Where is my diamond ring?!"

Dragging my heavy wedding dress, I lunged into the group of thugs and grabbed the blond by his collar. "Where did you put the real ring? Hand it over!"

The blond shoved me away hard. "Are you crazy?"

"You switched the ring!" Trembling with rage, I held up the crude plastic chunk. "You were the only ones who touched it just now. Give it back!"

Instantly, a dozen phone cameras were shoved in my face, flashes blinding me. The scrawny guy laughed wildly into his camera. "Look at this, guys! She brings a ten-dollar street trinket to play rich, fails to force a proposal, and now she's accusing us of stealing to cover it up!"

"Call the cops and lock her up for fraud!" the crowd erupted into malicious, roaring laughter.

"Elena, you're so disappointing," Sienna sighed, putting on a fake display of pity. "Framing people just to save face in front of Landon? Have you even thought about the consequences of taking this to the police?"

"Shut up! Give it back!" Red-eyed, I lunged to grab the blond again.

"Get off me!" The blond shoved me violently. My feet slipped on the wet boardwalk, and I fell hard, the palms of my hands scraping against the wood until they were bloody and raw.

"You're the one who needs to shut up!" Landon glared down at me, his eyes icy and sinister. "Trying to extort my brothers? Blondie, grab this crazy scammer and drag her to the police booth!"

Two thugs immediately lunged forward, twisting my arms behind my back. To protect his buddies, Landon didn't hesitate for a second to pin a "fraud" charge on me.

"Let me go!" I struggled desperately, the lace of my wedding gown tearing with a sickening rip.

"Stop it!" Maya pushed through the crowd, shoving the thugs away and shielding me. "Maya, call the police... they switched the ring!" I grabbed her, shaking uncontrollably.

Maya glared fiercely at everyone. "Are you out of your minds? Elena is getting married at the Louis Seaside Hotel today! Over two hundred guests are waiting for her! If you dare touch her, I promise I will make you pay dearly!"

Sienna covered her mouth and giggled condescendingly. "If you're going to make up a ghost story, at least use your brain, okay? Elena is just a lowly event planner. A wedding in a banquet hall that starts at $200,000? Who is she marrying? A security guard?"

Landon looked at me with deep impatience. "Enough, Elena. Stop embarrassing yourself. What, is your groom—the one whose 'astronomically priced diamond ring' was supposedly stolen—going to ride in on a white horse to save you?"

"I didn't need a white horse. I drove."

A deep, extraordinarily commanding male voice suddenly pierced the air. Landon's sneer froze on his lips as the crowd involuntarily parted to the sides.

Adrian walked in. He was sharply dressed in a dark, haute-couture suit, a white groom’s rose pinned to his lapel. Two massive, elite bodyguards followed closely behind him. The terrifying, oppressive aura of a man accustomed to absolute power instantly froze the air around us.

Ignoring everyone else, he walked straight to me. Seeing my bleeding palms and my torn gown, the depths of Adrian’s dark eyes instantly turned to ice. He took off his suit jacket, draped it over my trembling shoulders, and pulled me protectively into his embrace.

"Did it reach the bone?" he asked softly, using a handkerchief to gently dab my palm.

Leaning against his broad chest, the tears I had forced back finally fell. "No... Adrian, they switched out the wedding ring, and they're accusing me of fraud..."

"Don't be afraid. Let me handle this." He patted my back and positioned himself in front of me, shielding me. His glacial gaze swept past the blond thug before finally locking onto Landon's face.

"I am Elena's husband, Adrian Cole," he enunciated, every word carrying immense weight. "Now, who is going to explain the injuries on my wife's hands, and tell me where my ring is?"

The blond put on a brave front and sneered. "Woah, she actually hired an actor? You bring a ten-dollar piece of trash here to extort us, and you have the nerve to ask us for it?"

"A piece of trash?" Adrian repeated mildly, looking at him as if looking at a dead man.

He tilted his head slightly, took a leather folder from his bodyguard, pulled out a document stamped with an official steel seal, and casually tossed it at the blond.

"This 'piece of trash' comes with a GIA certification. It was an independent lot I won for my wife last month at the Sotheby's auction in Geneva." Adrian's tone was calm, yet chilling to the bone. "The center stone is 5.2 carats, D-color, and flawless. The winning bid was 2.2 million dollars."

A deathly silence fell over the pier. Staring at the long string of zeroes on the paper, the blond’s hands shook like leaves in the wind. His face turned ashen.

"According to Florida state law," Adrian coldly declared the sentence, "the theft and transfer of property exceeding one hundred thousand dollars constitutes a first-degree felony. It carries a maximum penalty of thirty years in prison."

"You... you think you can scare us with a fake invoice?" Landon’s Adam's apple bobbed. He tried to act tough, but his bravado had clearly crumbled.

"You will find out very soon whether I am scaring you or not." Adrian glanced at his wristwatch, his voice devoid of any emotion. "The Miami police and my legal team will be here in three minutes. Even if you threw the ring into the ocean, I can turn this entire pier upside down to find it."

His gaze was like a knife, ruthlessly pinned to Landon’s incredibly grim face. "Everyone involved here today—prepare to spend the rest of your lives in prison."