"What the hell?!"

The scent of alcohol permeated the room as everyone stared at the girl. Glass shards scattered across the floor, and even though the music was still loud and roaring, all Amelia could hear was the sound of her blood roaring in her veins.

"Amelia Kentwood, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Nigel hissed, his face turning as red as a tomato after having lost his cool, but Amelia paid him no heed. Her head was bent low as tears filled her eyes, Caleb's hurtful words playing like a haunting melody in her head.

'She's nothing more than a loyal dog.'

A choked sob escaped her lips. Her husband, the man she would willingly walk on hot coals for, the man she had worked herself to the bone to support, had played her for a fool, treating her like an animal.

A broken wine bottle was the least of her worries. She listlessly watched the wine spread all over the hard floor, reminiscent of the bleeding wound that was her heart.

Nigel continued to scream, his anger rising when Amelia refused to apologize or clean up her mess. All she did was remain kneeling in silence. She was utterly pathetic, and if she caused him to lose the patronage of such an exclusive clientele, Nigel would personally beat her black and blue before the day was out.

"Are you out of your damn mind?! Do you even know how much this wine costs? You won't be able to pay it back even if you sold that lousy body of yours!" Nigel raged, rolling up his sleeves. "Now get the fuck up and clean this mess before I send you out on the streets!"

"What a dumb bitch," one of Caleb's friends, a woman, exclaimed in outrage.

"Nigel, what is the meaning of this? We didn't pay for such haphazard service!" Another woman complained.

"Maybe we should take our gatherings elsewhere," a man chimed in mockingly. "I'm sure there are other bars with less clumsy servers."

"Come on, let's not yell at the poor server like this. The bottle isn't that expensive. I'll pay for it."

Amelia's heart raced as she heard Caleb's voice. Perhaps this was simply a bad dream, and she would wake up in his loving arms as they woke up to face the day. Caleb loved her, and he was always kind. That was one of the reasons she had been drawn to him, despite his poverty.

The Caleb she knew would never have been capable of such cruelty. Amelia's mind simply could not make sense of it. It was as though she had tripped and fell into an alternate dimension. This was simply a nightmare.

However, Caleb's next words dashed her fragile hopes. "Only if she licks it up with her tongue like a dog!" Caleb added, and his friends burst out into hoots and hollers.

"Caleb, you naughty boy!"

"I knew you weren't that nice!"

Amelia froze. Nigel gripped her hair tight enough to hurt and leaned down so that he was glaring straight into her teary eyes.

"If you have no better plans, you better start licking," Nigel hissed out. "I'm not paying for your mistakes."

With that final statement, he flung her head back down, the force of his blow causing her hands to fall on the shattered glass shards. Amelia winced in pain, but that paled in comparison to the upheaval her heart just went through.

Caleb wanted her to lick up wine with her tongue?

Impossible. She shook her head and steadily got up to her feet.

"I won't do it," she said, her voice trembling. "You can't make me."

Jeers greeted her weak pronouncement, and she felt Nigel stiffen beside her.

"Guess you'll have to pay for it some other way then. Hey Caleb, maybe you should get her to entertain you! Her body isn't bad!"

Amelia shuddered as she felt their appraising eyes leer all over her body.

While her uniform covered her from neck to toe, it was skin-tight, stretching across her breasts and thighs while faithfully hugging the curve of her waist to ensure customers got some eye candy.

"Kinda sexy, truth be told. I think she's even hotter than your wife!" the man continued. If Amelia were not so devastated, she would have laughed at the irony of that statement.

"That's not hard," Caleb snorted. "That woman isn't anything to look at."

Amelia's heart gave another painful lurch. How could Caleb say such cruel things to her after kissing her good morning with his mouth?

Was everything they had just a lie?

It couldn't be, right?

Amelia raised her head and stared straight into Caleb's eyes. Caleb's eyes widened as he realized the woman he was cheerfully humiliating with his friends happened to be his wife. How he hadn't realized it was her even though Nigel had been screaming her name to the high heavens, Amelia wasn't sure.

And frankly, she couldn't be arsed to care either. Caleb clearly didn't have her in his heart.

"Caleb... How could you do this to me?" Amelia cried out, her words escaping in wretched sobs. "I love you!"

Gasps echoed throughout the room as his friends realized who they had been slinging insults at. After all, they had never met Caleb's mysterious wife since Caleb was pretending to be poor. Twisted mutterings echoed throughout the room as they eyed her the same way vultures would eye a dying animal.

"This is who Caleb married?"

"No wonder he never introduced her to us."

"She must be good in bed, to get him with that face of hers."

But she had no eyes for anyone else but Caleb. Caleb, who used to gaze at her with such love and affection, now only had a viscous cruelty in his eyes. It took him only a small beat to recover from his initial shock, and the smile on his face turned sinister rather than the usual warm one Amelia was familiar with.

"What good is your love, Amelia?" He smirked up at her forlorn demeanor.

Amelia stumbled back as if she was struck dumb by his words.

Poor Amelia― she was a good toy while it lasted, but Caleb knew he was meant for greater things.

"Since the cat's out of the bag, I might as well end this charade now," Caleb said, his voice casually cheerful. "Amelia Kentwood, I'm divorcing you."

"You... You're divorcing me," Amelia repeated nonplussed, as though the words would make more sense coming out of her mouth than his. Her mind was whirling faster than the cup rides in the amusement park.

"Oh, come on, don't look so surprised." Caleb crossed his arms and smirked. "Did you honestly believe that I would stay with you for the rest of our lives?"

"Yes!" The word burst out of Amelia's lips like sparks off a hot coal. "That's what marriage means!"

The table burst out laughing as though she had told a good joke.

"Maybe that would be true if I actually met a woman worth marrying," Caleb said, leaning back against his chair as he peered up at her with disdain in his eyes.

"You're not hard either," one of the women tittered playfully. "Guess she can't do it for you."

Again, the crowd of Caleb's friends burst into roaring laughter. Amelia could feel her face burn brightly hot red― she wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow her whole. She would give anything to not be here right now, anything to wake up in her bed only to realize that this was all just a bad dream.

"Look at her," one of the men said. "She looks so shocked that she might just piss herself!"

"Ew, gross!"

More mocking laughter filled the room. Beside her, Nigel had turned into a stone statue. He was broiling in a mixture of shock, disbelief, and confusion. On one hand, he was panicked about having treated Caleb Walton's lawfully wedded wife like that. On another, he was sure that he wouldn't be in any trouble― whatever Nigel had ever said or done to Amelia was a mere grain of salt in comparison to what Caleb himself was doing!

And divorce!

Caleb Walton certainly didn't seem to care about this wife of his!

"Well, what are you waiting for?" one of the women prodded, sneering at Amelia and Nigel as though they were two fat bugs on the road. "Get to cleaning. It's dangerous to walk around, don't you know?"

"Y-Yes... Yes!" Nigel said, jolting back to attention. He spun to Amelia, gesturing to the glass shards of the broken wine bottle. Running out, he quickly returned with a broom and a dustpan. "Hurry up!"

Right as Amelia was about to take the broom, her hands still shivering, a sharp click of the tongue stopped them short.

"I think using your hands will be enough," the same woman said with a coy smile.

She leaned back into the seat, snuggling deep into Caleb's outstretched arm that was resting against the backrest. Caleb didn't flinch, silently allowing the woman's actions, and she grew bolder. She placed a hand on Caleb's chest, gently stroking the muscles that stretched the shirt taut.

Amelia's eyelids twitched as she watched, biting down on her bottom lip so hard that it began to draw blood.

"There's no need to use a broom," the woman said. "What if the glass shards get stuck there? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

Snickers filled the room. Amelia turned her gaze to Caleb; she had a bit of hope left in her - however little - that he might just speak up for her. After all, it would be dangerous to touch it with bare hands, especially after Amelia had already accidentally cut herself on the shards when the bottle was smashed.

However, Amelia's face quickly fell when the seconds ticked on without a sign from Caleb. He didn't say a single word, simply turning his attention away to his friends. Their conversation resumed as though it hadn't been disturbed, with some of Caleb's friends either glancing at Amelia with mockery in their eyes or the rare bit of pity.

Her lips trembled but she wasn't allowed a second of reprieve. Before she could stomp out of the room, Nigel's hands found her shoulders, shoving her to her knees. She collapsed painfully against the floor, her knees scraping against some of the glass shards while her palms dragged across the floor.

Amelia's hands worked on autopilot, instinctively grabbing the scattered glass shards. Pinpricks of pain shot through her fingers and palms but it wasn't enough to wake her up from this nightmare. Her tears fell from her eyes as she worked, mixing with the red of her blood and the plum shade of the wine.

As she picked up some of the shards, she couldn't help but stare. They resembled her― broken and destroyed. Her entire world had collapsed in the span of fifteen minutes.

"Stop wasting time, you incompetent fool!" Nigel yelled.

He kicked her from the back, causing Amelia to stumble forward when she tried to get up to discard the waste. Whatever she had collected fell back onto the floor with a tinkling sound, attracting the eyes of Caleb's friends, who all could no longer pretend to ignore what was going on. However, none had the desire to help. Even if they did, none acted upon it.

"You're useless!" Nigel continued.

He realized that Caleb Walton didn't just dislike his wife― he most likely hated her! With how his friends took great joy in watching Amelia suffer, Nigel might get a hefty tip if he played along as the protagonist to their new favorite pastime. As such, he raised his voice and his strength.

This time, when Amelia turned around, Nigel's palm quickly came into contact with her cheek, causing her head to spin to one side. Her hand flew to hold the reddened spot immediately, a sharp gasp escaping her lips as she hadn't expected it coming. Nigel was a horrible manager, but he had never been physical.

Nigel, who had been so immersed in his act, failed to realize the amusement in Caleb's eyes died down as his expression darkened.

"How hard is it to sweep up some shards of glass?" Nigel screamed, spit spilling from his lips as he continued. "If you can't even handle some basic work, consider yourself―"

"Fired."

All heads spun around to look at the door, with profanities hanging off of Nigel's lips, ready to drop at any time. However, when he finally realized who it was who stood out there, all color fled from his face.

"M-Mr. Montgomery! What a delightful visit!" Nigel spluttered. He quickly gathered himself and bowed. "You're absolutely right, this woman should be fired immediately for her incompetence!" Amelia's heart sank as she waited for the inevitable; she was going to be missing a husband and a job...

"Amelia, pack your things. You're―"

"I was referring to you," the man, Mr. Montgomery, interrupted, his voice cutting and cold.

Amelia shivered instinctively; it was as though a blizzard's chill had swept through the room, leaving everyone frozen in his wake. Even Caleb's table, which had been nothing but noisy, was surprisingly silent.

Amelia couldn't help but be curious about the man who held such power. She had always been too low in the ranks to meet Nigel's boss, and she wondered what sort of man could have struck Caleb and his cronies dumb with his presence. However, his name, at least, was common knowledge among those who lived in Solara, and even those beyond the borders of the country.

Matteo Montgomery, one of the leading powers of the business empires in Solara. He was one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the country, on top of managing the Montgomery family business that had been thriving for generations. The club she was working at was but one of the many businesses he owned.

She slowly tilted her head, trying her best to take a peep at the man without him knowing.

Her heart raced as she caught sight of her savior through her messy hair. She had to tilt her head higher just so she could catch a glimpse of his face.

Matteo was devastatingly handsome. His strong jawline, high cheekbones, and broad shoulders gave off an intimidating, almost regal presence. With his jet-black hair and glacial blue eyes, Amelia could almost imagine him as a king, complete with a crown on top of his head.

Her heart, broken and shattered as it was, couldn't help but tremble.

Her eyes darted lower; she couldn't help but notice the veins in his forearms, thanks to the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt. He seemed like someone who didn't mind doing hard work.

As though he sensed her glance, Matteo turned those glacial blue eyes on her. Amelia quickly ducked away, not wanting to attract any more of his attention. She didn't know him well― he might simply decide to change his mind and let Nigel beat her.

Or worse, he might pity her.

She knew how she must have looked in his eyes. She was nothing but a poor employee who looked like a wreck, with wine splashes on her uniform and her hair a disheveled mess, her eyes swollen and teary, and scratched wounds all over her hands.

But because she looked away, she did not see how his gaze softened as he gazed at her.

"Since when did I give you leave to hit my employees?" Matteo demanded. His tone was icy, but his blood was boiling underneath the surface. He detested anyone who laid a hand on the weak and powerless.

Sweat began to bead on Nigel's temples, and he quickly glanced at Caleb Walton's table, hoping that one of them would chime in and save his skin. However, all of them dared not to speak in Matteo's presence, when his anger was a palpable shroud, threatening to strangle them all.

"I... I was just teaching her a lesson!" Nigel protested. "This worker is very clumsy― she shattered this bottle of priceless wine―"

"And will beating her up magically fix matters?" Matteo asked with a raised eyebrow. "I had no idea violence was magic."

Unbidden, a small smile crossed Amelia's face at his wit.

"Nigel, you're fired. Turn in your staff pass and your keys by tonight."

Nigel paled. "Mr. Montgomery! Please, this was a misunderstanding! I wouldn't have if not for―"

"Be thankful that I'm not suing you for workplace violence," Matteo growled out, anger rearing its ugly head at Nigel's insistence that he had not done wrong. "Now, get lost!"

Nigel wisely fled the room without a backwards glance. Once Nigel's back retreated from the room for good, Caleb finally spoke up, standing up to walk towards Matteo. Amelia flinched, half-expecting Caleb to shove her, but she was as good as air in his eyes.

Her husband only had eyes for Matteo.

"Hi Matteo, fancy seeing you here! It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Caleb asked, his tone friendly and welcoming.

Amelia's heart gave a tiny lurch in her ribcage― it was as though the nastiness of earlier was a figment of her imagination. This was her husband again, as she knew him.

"This is my club," Matteo replied flatly. "It would be much stranger if you didn't see me."

Caleb laughed awkwardly, but he continued to speak, not dissuaded by Matteo's coldness. "Well, I know you must be busy, but would you have the time to spare a drink with us?"

"Since you know I'm busy, why did you even bother asking?" Matteo retorted, staring at Caleb as though he was soft in the head.

Amelia blinked― she had never met a man so blunt and so impervious to Caleb's friendliness before.

It was almost like he had a personal hatred for Caleb's presence.

Caleb's face darkened, but he still kept on smiling.

"It was worth a shot! You are a hard man to catch, Matteo. I hope you―"

To Amelia's surprise, Matteo didn't even bother responding to Caleb's words. Instead, he turned to Amelia, wordlessly cutting Caleb off to address her.

"Follow me."

"What?" Amelia asked, wondering if she had misheard.

"You need to dress your wounds. Follow me," he repeated, holding out his hand for her.

"There's no need―" Amelia protested, holding her hands close to her chest, staring at his hand as though it were a live wire. Her wounds hurt, but it was nothing that good old iodine could not fix.

Her broken heart was another matter altogether. She chanced a quick look at Caleb, only to spot the derisive curl of his lips as he sneered at her.

"I agree, Matteo, there's no need to trouble yourself with someone like her," Caleb said with a cavalier laugh. "She has a pair of working legs; she can make her own way out."

Amelia bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. She did not recognize this callous man in front of her.

Matteo's eyebrows furrowed in distaste, but he did not bother to respond to Caleb's words. Instead, he gazed at Amelia, wordlessly cocking his head.

His hand was still outstretched, waiting for Amelia to respond.