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.

Coleton's body convulsed on the floor. He was gasping for air, his forehead pressed against the rug, sweat soaking his hair.

The heavy thwack of the blackwood cane echoed in the silent room, vibrating against the walls.

Jovani scrambled away from Katrina and crawled toward Adelbert. He grabbed his grandfather's pant leg. "Grandpa, stop! Please! He's had enough!"

Adelbert kicked Jovani away with a swift jerk of his leg. His cloudy eyes remained locked on Katrina, trying to force her to break.

Katrina sat in the velvet chair, her expression completely unreadable.

Delmus watched Coleton's breathing turn shallow. He realized the situation was spiraling out of control. If the Meyer heir was permanently crippled, the billion-dollar merger would collapse entirely.

Delmus stepped forward quickly. As Adelbert raised the cane for a sixth strike, Delmus reached out and grabbed the brass tip mid-air.

"That's enough, Adelbert," Delmus said, his voice heavy and serious. "Blood has been spilled. The insult is answered. If you break him, we both lose."

Adelbert let out a long, tense breath. He had been looking for a way out of the standoff. He slowly lowered the cane, pretending he was still furious.

He pointed the tip of the cane at Coleton's bleeding back. "You should thank your father-in-law for his mercy. I would have broken your legs."

Katrina let out a sharp, dismissive laugh. She stood up from the velvet chair, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles from her skirt.

"Delmus showed mercy," Katrina announced, her voice ringing clear and cold. "I didn't offer a single drop of pity."

She looked at her father. "You can stay here and play your fake family games with them. I am leaving."

She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and walked toward the double doors.

Brandin stepped in front of the doorway, blocking her path with his broad shoulders.

"You can't leave," Brandin warned, his voice dropping low. "Look out the window. The paparazzi are swarming the main gates."

Katrina frowned. She turned her head toward the large bay windows. In the distance, past the manicured lawns, she could see the rapid, blinding flashes of cameras lighting up the iron gates.

She quickly weighed her options. Walking out there alone with a suitcase at 3:00 AM would give the media the exact narrative Brandin wanted. She was physically trapped on the estate.

Katrina turned back around. She looked at the head butler. "Alistair. Prepare the guest room in the West Wing. The one furthest from here."

Alistair wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He glanced at Adelbert, who gave a nearly invisible nod. "Right away, ma'am."

Katrina dragged her suitcase behind her. Her heels clicked sharply against the hardwood floor as she walked down the long, empty corridor. Her back was straight, her posture unyielding.

When she reached the West Wing room, she stepped inside, slammed the door in Alistair's face, and threw the heavy brass deadbolt with a loud click.

Back in the bridal suite, the suffocating tension broke the moment Katrina left.

The estate's private medical team rushed in. They began cutting away Coleton's ruined shirt to clean the bloody welts. The sharp smell of antiseptic filled the air.

Adelbert leaned on his cane. He scanned the room with cold eyes. He caught Rocco's attention and gestured toward the dark corner of the room.

Rocco stepped into the shadows, leaning down to hear the old man.

Adelbert lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "Once the doctors patch him up, drag him down to the basement."

Rocco's eyes widened in shock. "Sir?"

"Take a leather whip," Adelbert ordered, his voice devoid of any human emotion. "Keep hitting him. Avoid the face and organs. Just break the skin."

Rocco swallowed hard. "But the girl left. The punishment is over."

"The injuries aren't severe enough," Adelbert hissed. "When the press takes his photo tomorrow, he needs to look like he barely survived. I will build a cage of public sympathy so strong, she will never be able to file those divorce papers."