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."

Katrina paced the floor of the West Wing guest room. Her bare feet sank into the plush carpet.

Her throat was parched. The intense confrontation had left her mouth feeling like sandpaper. She walked over to the small minibar, but the crystal water pitcher was completely empty.

She let out an irritated sigh. But as she stood there, the silence of the West Wing gave her a sudden, sharp idea. This historic estate had secrets she had memorized during the engagement. Specifically, the old, decommissioned dumbwaiter shaft that ran directly from this floor down to the wall behind Adelbert's private study.

Katrina didn't go to the kitchen. Instead, she walked down the dark corridor until she found the hidden wooden panel. She carefully slid it open. The dark, vertical tunnel acted like a perfect acoustic funnel.

A low, muffled voice drifted up from the ground floor.

It was coming straight up the shaft. Katrina heard her own name. She instantly froze.

She leaned forward slightly, pressing her ear near the opening, holding her breath.

Inside the study, a fire crackled in the fireplace. Adelbert, Brandin, and Jovani were sitting in the leather armchairs.

Adelbert poured a measure of amber whiskey from a crystal decanter. The liquid caught the firelight.

"Coleton is in the basement right now," Adelbert said calmly, taking a sip. "Rocco is touching him up. By tomorrow morning, he will look like a martyr."

Katrina's heart skipped a beat.

"When the press gets the photos of the battered husband and the cold, runaway wife," Adelbert continued, a smug tone in his voice, "the PR team will crucify her. The public will demand she stand by him. She won't dare file for divorce."

Brandin nodded slowly. He didn't look angry that his sister was being manipulated. He looked relieved. "It's the safest way to protect the merger."

Katrina's fingers gripped the banister so hard her knuckles turned white. Her own brother was sitting there, nodding along to a plot to destroy her reputation.

"But what if she still refuses?" Brandin asked.

Adelbert's eyes turned pitch black. "If Coleton fails to bring her back, he is useless to me."

Adelbert leaned forward. "I will activate the contingency clause in the family trust. I will bring Coen Meyer back from Europe and replace Coleton as the primary heir."

In the shadows of the study, Jovani gasped. The name Coen Meyer-the illegitimate son-made Jovani's eyes widen with pure terror and jealousy.

"Tell Coleton about Coen," Adelbert ordered. "Let the fear of losing his money force him to crawl on his knees and beg her."

Katrina didn't waste a second. She reached into the pocket of her silk robe and pulled out her phone. Her fingers trembled slightly as she hit the record button.

She held the phone near the open shaft, capturing every single word of their disgusting, calculated plot.

The audio waveform on her screen spiked with every evil sentence. But inside, Katrina's blood was turning to ice. The burning anger was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute clarity.

Every apology, every drop of blood spilled tonight-it was all a performance. A transaction.

The conversation downstairs began to wrap up. Katrina quickly hit stop and saved the file.

She clutched the phone to her chest like a weapon. She slid the wooden panel shut with zero sound. She turned around and walked back down the hallway, her bare feet making zero sound against the marble.

She slipped back into her room and shut the door with a soft click. She immediately threw the deadbolt.

She wasn't taking any chances. She grabbed the heavy, European-style armchair and dragged it across the carpet, wedging it tightly under the door handle.

Katrina sat on the edge of the bed. Her chest heaved. She pressed play on the recording.

Listening to their voices again, the last tiny fragment of hesitation inside her shattered into dust. Her will to fight back hardened into unbreakable steel.