Chapter 3

Brielle's POV

"Pay for this?" Delilah laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "Cole, did you HEAR that? The trash cleaner says we're gonna pay! What is she, some kind of mob boss?"

Cole shook his head, looking at me like I'd lost my mind. "Brielle, did scrubbing corpses finally fry your brain? What are you gonna do to me? Mop me to death? Spray bleach in my face?"

He snorted.

"You can't even afford tomorrow's rent."

Several hulking security guards rushed over, surrounding me.

"Mr. Bennett, how do you want us to handle this?" the head guard asked.

Cole waved his hand like he was swatting a fly. "Throw her in the dumpster out back. And don't let her touch anything—that death smell might rub off."

"Wait." Delilah's voice cut through.

She walked up to me, eyes glinting with malice. She couldn't stand a bottom-feeder looking at her like that.

"Just throwing her out? That's too easy."

Delilah glanced at the buffet table, where a cream cake had fallen on the floor—covered in dust and footprints.

"She likes talking big, right? Well, let's teach her about knowing her place."

Delilah pointed at the ruined cake. "Hold her down and make her eat that. Every. Last. Bite. She doesn't finish?" She smiled coldly. "Break her hands."

"Delilah, come on, isn't that a bit much..."

"SHUT UP!" Delilah shrieked. "This is MY engagement party, and she RUINED it! This is what she GETS!" She whirled on Cole. "What, you suddenly feel sorry for her?"

Cole immediately stepped closer to Delilah, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Of course not, babe. She's insane. Whatever you want—do it."

The head guard grinned and kicked the back of my knee.

THUD. I hit the marble floor hard. My knees screamed. Two guards pinned my shoulders down with crushing force.

"EAT!" The head guard grabbed a fistful of the filthy cake—mixed with dirt and glass shards—and shoved it at my mouth.

"Get the hell OFF me!" I fought back, jaw clenched, glaring at Delilah and Cole.

"You're STILL fighting?" Delilah stepped forward and SLAPPED me across the face.

Half my face swelled. Blood dripped from my lip.

"What the hell do you think you ARE?" Delilah's face twisted with rage. She lifted her foot and STOMPED down on my right hand with her stiletto heel.

"AHHH—!" I screamed.

I felt the heel break skin, grind into bone.

"SCREAM! Scream LOUDER!" Delilah ground her heel down, laughing like she'd lost her mind. "These disgusting hands that touch dead bodies? I'm doing the world a favor—crippling them RIGHT NOW!"

Cole stood there with his drink, watching like it was entertainment.

Through all the pain and humiliation, something in me went cold and clear. I stopped struggling. Stopped begging. Let my hair fall over my face.

While no one was paying attention, I slipped my left hand into the hidden pocket inside my jacket. There was a small black metal button.

The Sterling family's highest-level emergency signal.

Dad forced it on me three years ago when I left.

He'd said, "Brielle, go ahead—play your poverty game. But if you ever regret it, or if your life's in danger? Press this."

I swore I'd never use it.

But now? Time to show them real hell.

CLICK.

I pressed the button. The moment the signal went out, a cold smile spread across my face.

Delilah saw my smile and froze, something flickering in her eyes—fear.

"What are you smiling about, you PSYCHO?"

"I'm smiling because..." I slowly lifted my head, meeting her eyes. "You're all about to die. And you don't even know it yet."

"Shut her UP!" Delilah SNAPPED, screaming at the guards.

The head guard raised his fist, ready to smash it into my face. Delilah kicked me again, pressing me harder into the floor. "Make her EAT! Shove it down her THROAT! I want this bitch to understand her PLACE!"

The guards swarmed me. Someone grabbed my hair. Someone else pried my jaw open. The disgusting mixture of dirt, glass, and God-knows-what was forced into my mouth.

I choked, gagging, couldn't breathe. Blood mixed with cream dripped down my chin.

The crowd cheered. Phone cameras flashed. Someone yelled out bets on how long I'd last.

Cole pulled Delilah close, watching like it was dinner and a show.

"Cole, look at her. God, she's disgusting." Delilah leaned against his shoulder, smiling. "See? Trash stays trash. No matter what you do for them."

"You're absolutely right, babe." Cole kissed her forehead. "I must've been BLIND to waste three years on her."

Just as the guard's fist was about to come down—

BOOM!!!

A deafening ROAR.

The floor-to-ceiling windows EXPLODED inward!

Glass rained down. Wind screamed. Helicopter rotors thundered overhead.

Everyone screamed. People dove for cover.