Delmus yanked his arm out of Brandin's grip. His chest heaved with angry breaths. He stepped back, his eyes still glaring at Katrina, but he kept his hands at his sides.

Adelbert watched the violence fail. He cleared his throat loudly, demanding the room's attention.

He leaned heavily on his cane and took a step closer to Katrina. The fake warmth was gone. Now, he was negotiating.

"Katrina," Adelbert said, his voice formal and stiff. "As the head of the Meyer family, I formally apologize to you. When Coleton is brought back, I will punish him severely. You will have your justice."

Katrina looked at him with dead eyes. "What kind of punishment erases the humiliation of a bride abandoned on her wedding night?"

Adelbert didn't miss a beat. He snapped his fingers. An assistant rushed forward and handed him a leather-bound folder. Adelbert held it out to her.

"I am prepared to add five percent of the joint venture shares directly into your personal name," Adelbert offered.

Katrina stared at the paper. The ink represented millions of dollars. Her stomach churned. In their eyes, her dignity was just a commodity with a price tag.

She reached out and pushed the folder away. The paper crinkled under her fingers. "Coleton broke the most basic vow of loyalty. You can't buy that back."

From behind Brandin, his wife Eleanor suddenly stepped forward. She crossed her arms, looking at Katrina with the arrogant superiority of someone who had survived years of misery.

"Men make mistakes, Katrina," Eleanor said, her tone dripping with condescension. "The most important thing a woman in our position can learn is how to shut her mouth and endure. Think of the bigger picture."

Katrina's head snapped toward her sister-in-law. Her eyes were like daggers.

"Shut your mouth, Eleanor," Katrina commanded. The sheer force of her voice made Eleanor flinch. "Don't project your pathetic life onto me. Everyone knows you beg for scraps of attention from Brandin just to keep up appearances. I am not you."

Eleanor's face turned a blotchy, embarrassed red. She gasped, stepping backward until she was hiding behind Brandin's shoulder again. She didn't say another word.

Brandin glared at Katrina. He looked at her like she was a rabid dog biting everyone in the room.

"Fine," Brandin snapped. He threw his hands up. "We do a compromise. We tell the press you two left early for a private, six-month honeymoon. We freeze the crisis."

Katrina stared at him. Then, she laughed.

It was a loud, bitter laugh that bounced off the walls of the suffocating room.

She stopped laughing abruptly. Her eyes locked onto Brandin's. "My marriage is not a prop for your PR department."

Adelbert's face darkened. The bribes didn't work. The compromises didn't work. A dangerous, violent shadow crossed the old man's eyes.

He realized normal tactics were useless against this woman. He needed to force her hand.

Adelbert turned his head slightly. He locked eyes with Rocco, the massive security chief standing by the door. Adelbert gave him a single, cold nod.

Rocco understood immediately. He turned and marched out of the suite.

Katrina ignored the exchange. She turned around and grabbed the handle of her Hermes suitcase. She was done talking.

She took one step toward the door.

Brandin lunged. His large hand slammed down over hers on the suitcase handle, pinning it in place.

He leaned in close, his breath hot against her ear. "If you walk out that door, Katrina, I will freeze every single family trust fund under your name. You will have nothing."

Katrina looked down at his hand. His knuckles were white from the force. She slowly lifted her head. There was zero fear in her eyes.

"I moved my core assets into independent offshore accounts three months ago," Katrina said, her voice a deadly whisper. "You don't control my money, Brandin." She watched the shock register on his face. She hadn't done it because she planned to leave Coleton. She had done it because she was a Pennington, raised in a world where trust was a liability. It was supposed to be a standard, paranoid insurance policy-a fail-safe she had desperately hoped she would never actually need to trigger. But standing here now, she was bitterly grateful for her own cold pragmatism.

Brandin's eyes widened in pure shock. His grip loosened for a fraction of a second.

Katrina ripped the suitcase handle out of his hand.

She turned to walk out.

Just as she took her first step, the heavy double doors were violently shoved open from the hallway.

Rocco walked in. His massive fist was twisted into the collar of Coleton's expensive dress shirt. He was dragging the heir to the Meyer empire like a stray dog.

Rocco shoved his arm forward.

Coleton stumbled into the room, losing his footing. His hair was a mess. His shirt was wrinkled and pulled tight across his throat. He looked absolutely pathetic.

The tension in the room instantly skyrocketed.

Coleton stumbled and barely caught his balance. He looked around the room, his chest heaving. He looked like a trapped animal surrounded by wolves.

His eyes met Adelbert's. The old man's gaze was murderous. Coleton flinched visibly, his shoulders shrinking as he quickly looked away.

Then, Coleton saw Katrina. He saw her hand gripping the handle of her suitcase. He realized she was actually leaving.

He scrambled forward, reaching out to grab her arm. "Katrina, wait. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Katrina sidestepped smoothly, avoiding his touch like he was diseased.

Coleton dropped his hand, but his mouth kept moving. "Leo's fever spiked to 104 degrees. It was an emergency. I had to go."

Katrina looked him up and down. Her expression was one of pure, unadulterated pity.

"When did you get your pediatric medical license, Coleton?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What exactly were you going to do to cure him?"

Coleton choked on his words. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. His face turned a deep, humiliated red.

Brandin watched Coleton stammer. The rage that Brandin had been suppressing finally boiled over.

This was the idiot who had just jeopardized a billion-dollar merger.

Brandin let out a furious roar. He charged forward like a linebacker. He grabbed the lapels of Coleton's custom shirt with both hands.

Before anyone could react, Brandin pulled his right arm back and drove his fist directly into Coleton's jaw.

The sickening crack of bone hitting bone echoed in the room.

Coleton screamed. The force of the punch lifted him off his feet. He crashed backward, hitting the hard wood floor with a heavy thud.

Blood immediately pooled in the corner of Coleton's mouth. It dripped down his chin and stained the collar of his white shirt. He groaned, clutching his face in shock.

Katrina stood perfectly still. She watched her brother beat her husband. Her heart rate didn't even spike. She felt absolutely nothing.

Jovani saw his cousin hit the floor. Family pride kicked in. He couldn't let a Pennington assault a Meyer on Meyer territory.

Jovani rushed forward and shoved Brandin hard in the chest. "Back off! This is Meyer property. You don't get to discipline our blood!"

Brandin shoved him right back. "He's a pathetic piece of trash who thinks with his dick!"

The two heirs grabbed each other's jackets. The room erupted into chaotic shouting.

"Enough!"

Adelbert raised his solid silver cane high into the air. He brought it down against the floorboards with all his strength.

BANG.

The sound was like a gunshot. Brandin and Jovani froze, instantly letting go of each other. The room went dead silent.

Adelbert glared at Brandin. "Step back. A Meyer made the mistake. A Meyer will handle the discipline."

Coleton heard those words. He looked up from the floor, wiping the blood from his mouth. A spark of hope lit up his eyes. He thought his grandfather was stepping in to protect him, just like he always did.

But Adelbert didn't look at him with love. He looked down at Coleton with the cold, calculating eyes of a man discarding a broken tool.

"Effective immediately," Adelbert announced, his voice echoing with absolute finality, "I am stripping you of all executive privileges and operational titles within the Meyer Group."

Coleton's eyes bulged out of his head. The color drained from his face. His pupils dilated in pure terror. The power he relied on to survive was gone in a single sentence.

Jovani's heart leaped with joy, but he forced a look of concern onto his face. "Grandfather, please. Isn't that too harsh?" He only said it to confirm the order was real.

Adelbert shot Jovani a look so venomous it made Jovani step backward. The authority was absolute.

Katrina crossed her arms over her chest. She watched the entire performance. A mocking smile touched her lips.

"Demoting him in your little corporate sandbox doesn't fix a marriage that is rotten to the core," Katrina stated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

Adelbert's eyes hardened. The demotion hadn't moved Katrina at all.

He turned his head slightly and locked eyes with Alistair, the head butler. "Bring me the blackwood cane."

Coleton's breath hitched. His face went completely white. He knew exactly what that meant. It was the ancient, brutal method of physical discipline reserved for the worst offenses in the Meyer family.

Coleton scrambled onto his hands and knees. He crawled toward Katrina, his bloody face twisted in panic. "Katrina, please! Tell him to stop! Please!"

Katrina took a step back. She turned her head, looking out the large window into the pitch-black night. She offered him nothing but absolute, freezing indifference.

Alistair walked back into the room. He held a heavy, dark wooden cane in both hands. The tip was capped with solid brass. He handed it to Adelbert with a solemn bow.

Adelbert gripped the cane. He looked down at Coleton. "On your knees. In the center of the room."

Coleton's legs shook violently. He shook his head, trying to back away. Rocco stepped forward, his massive frame casting a shadow over Coleton. The unspoken threat of violence was enough.

Coleton swallowed a sob and sank to his knees on the rug.

Adelbert didn't hesitate. He raised the heavy blackwood cane high above his head. The wood whistled as it cut through the air.

THWACK.

The brass tip slammed into the center of Coleton's back.

Coleton let out a blood-curdling scream. His entire upper body collapsed forward, his hands slapping the floor as he gasped for air.

Brandin stood to the side, watching. A cruel, satisfied smirk formed on his lips.

Jovani squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, unable to watch the brutal physical punishment.

Adelbert raised the cane again. He looked directly at Katrina. "Look closely, Katrina! This is how the Meyer family answers an insult! I will keep striking him until I am satisfied that the debt of honor is paid in full!"

Katrina's pupils contracted. The trap was instantly clear to her.

This was a vicious, calculated psychological game. If she begged for mercy, she was accepting his apology and staying in the marriage. If she didn't, they would paint her as a cold-blooded monster to the press.

Katrina took a slow, deep breath. Her spine straightened. She refused to play her assigned role in this sick script.

She walked over to a plush, French velvet armchair. She smoothed the fabric of her skirt and sat down gracefully.

She crossed her legs. She folded her hands neatly in her lap. She looked up at Adelbert with a chillingly calm expression.

"Please," Katrina said softly. "Continue until you feel your honor is restored."

Adelbert's arm, still raised in the air, twitched. He stared at her, genuinely shocked by the absolute ice in her veins.

But he had made the grand declaration out loud. To lower the cane immediately after just a few strikes would make his 'debt of honor' look incredibly cheap in front of both families. He was riding a tiger and couldn't get off.

Adelbert gritted his teeth and swung the cane down again.

The second strike hit Coleton's shoulder blade. Coleton rolled onto his side, violently thrashing against the floor. Tears and snot ran down his face.

The third strike tore through the expensive fabric of Coleton's shirt. A thick, angry red welt swelled instantly against his bare skin.

Eleanor screamed. She slapped both hands over her mouth, her body trembling violently as she backed into the wall.

Delmus frowned deeply. He stared at his daughter, searching her face for a single flinch, a single tear.

Katrina didn't blink. She slowly lifted her left wrist. She glanced at the diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe watch.

She looked back up at Adelbert. "How much longer is this medieval theater going to take? I have a schedule to keep."

Coleton lay on the floor, gasping for air. He looked up at Katrina through his tears. His eyes were filled with the shock of total betrayal. He couldn't believe she was letting this happen.

Jovani couldn't take it anymore. He dropped to his knees right at Katrina's feet. "Katrina, please! Have some mercy! You're going to let him kill him!"

Katrina looked down at Jovani. Her face was a mask of stone. "Adelbert is holding the cane. I am not forcing his hand."

Adelbert's face flushed with pure, humiliated rage. He raised the cane and brought it down for a fifth, devastating strike.