I paused, but something in my chest kept twisting, again and again.

I turned my face toward her. "Do you believe her? She really was set up by Sean, made up to look like that."

"Not this again. Why would Sean set her up?"

"Patrick, sometimes you're just too stubborn. You only ever see one thing."

"Let me ask you one thing. Would you really—"

"He wouldn't!"

I told her, flat and certain.

My father died when I was six. My mother raised me by scavenging trash, and that was the only reason I ever got a chance to make something of myself.

Meeting the weight of the Hardings bearing down on me, I kept my head level and apologized to her all the same, then took hold of my mother's arm to leave.

But Sean pulled his trick again, sticking out a foot to trip her.

I never expected her whole body to crash into Marina, knocking over the wine rack beside them too.

Wine soaked through both their dresses.

I whipped my head around, glaring at Sean with wide, furious eyes. He winked at me, pleased with himself, taunting me in silence.

Before my anger could break, Marina's voice came at me, shrill with rage.

"You wretched jinx, it's you again."

"Get away from me!"

This time it wasn't a slap. She swung a fist straight into my mother and knocked her down.

I couldn't spare a thought for settling scores with Sean. I spun around at once to protect her.

Sarah grabbed my hand, her face flushed with anger, looking as if she hated my mother.

"What exactly are you two playing at?"

"Sarah, can't you see what they're doing?"

"They came here just to bring bad luck down on me."

Marina finished, then turned and fixed my mother with a murderous glare.

"You've cursed me again and again. Don't think I have no temper."

"Do you know how expensive this dress is? Even the thread is spun gold, and you ruined it with wine."

With that, she drove another fist into the other side of my mother's face.

"Marina! Stop it!"

I broke free of Sarah's grip and stepped forward.

"My mother was tripped by Sean. That's the only reason she fell into you."

"Ha, Sarah, see? This is a man who loves nothing more than shoving off the blame."

"Sean just stood there and did nothing. How did he end up the target of these two?"

Sean came over wearing all the innocence in the world, his voice thick with grievance.

"He's been slandering me for a long time now, not just today."

"At the company he never missed a chance to steal my credit. The good work he took for himself, the hard jobs he handed to me."

"I'm used to it."

The moment he stopped speaking, every eye in the room turned on me with scorn and contempt.

"Well. Like mother, like son, I suppose."

"You know the old saying. Dragons breed dragons, phoenixes breed phoenixes, and a rat's son knows how to dig holes!"

"Yes, yes! Exactly!"

Eyes shut tight, my mother pushed herself up off the floor.

"That's not how it is. You can't slander my son like this."

"You still have the nerve to speak? Why don't you first tell us how you're going to pay for Marina's dress before you open your mouth!"

Hearing how costly the dress was, my mother grew more and more panicked.

She was afraid I couldn't afford it, and the guilt was enough to set off her stomach.

Back when I was small, she wouldn't eat for fear I'd go hungry, giving every scrap of food to me.

That was how she starved her stomach into sickness, with no money to treat it in time.

And by now, no amount of explaining would change anything.

The gap between us was too wide. People only believed the ones with standing.

"It was our fault for staining your dress. We'll pay for it."

"Hah. What could a pair of paupers like you possibly pay with?"

"You're only a supervisor at my company. Don't you think I know exactly what you're worth?"

"But I'm not some monster. If you can't pay, then get down on your knees, crawl and bark like a dog, all the way out the Harding door."

For a second I was stunned. I never imagined Sarah's mother could be a woman like this.

Sarah wasn't looking at me anymore. She was comforting Sean.

The two of them stood pressed close together, every gesture intimate.

In that moment, it was as though I no longer cared about love between a man and a woman.

"Fine. I'll kneel in my mother's place."

"No!" One hand pressed to her stomach, my mother stumbled toward the sound of my voice. The pain in her gut was so bad she could barely move. I went to steady her, but she gripped my hand instead. "Son, don't you dare kneel."

"I'm the one who should kneel. This is my mother's doing."

"You're a Dickerson. I owe that much to your father and to every Dickerson who came before you."

Marina let out a cold laugh. "I won't let him kneel. Whoever did wrong is the one who kneels."

"And even if your son knelt, it wouldn't count."

My mother's face had gone bloodless with pain, but she forced her body upright and smiled.

"Yes, yes, yes. I'll do it. I'll kneel."

I moved to stop her, but Marina had her people seize me.

My mother crawled with that mortified smile on her face, barking as she went.

Someone at the side clapped and laughed and called out their approval.

It cut me to pieces. I fought with everything I had.

I turned to Sarah, begging her with my eyes. She only stood there, cold, watching, as if none of it touched her.

Barely ten feet in, my mother couldn't hold on any longer. Blood burst from her mouth and her head hit the floor.

"Mom!"

Hatred tore something loose in me. I kicked the men holding me clean off.

I got to her and lifted her, and only then did I feel how weak her breathing had become.

Sarah panicked too. She hadn't expected it to end in blood.

She finally stepped forward to speak up for me. It was too late.

I shot Sean one savage look, hauled my mother onto my back, and ran for the door.

Sarah chased after me. "Patrick, your mother was fine. Why is she coughing up blood?"

"She has stomach cancer!"

Sarah froze, then said at once, "Then let me drive you to the hospital."

But Marina came out with her people and stopped her.

"Patrick, do you want to know who gave your mother that corpse-style makeup tonight?"

Hearing that, I turned slowly, my mother still on my back.

She met my suspicious eyes and said it outright.

"That was me. I'm the one who told Sean to do it."

The words landed, and Sarah stood there stunned too.

"Mom, why? Why would you do that?"

"Why do you think? For you, of course."

"I look down on them. Country trash, that's all they are. Money doesn't change where they came from."

"You think I'd let my precious daughter marry someone like you? I said no to this marriage from the start."

"But you wouldn't come to your senses. So I found a way to make you see just how low his mother really is."

My hands curled into fists on instinct. The fire in me only burned hotter.

"If you didn't want this marriage, you could have told me straight. Why use a filthy trick like this on my mother?"

"Ha. I wanted you crawling like dogs in front of the rich, on purpose. Humiliate you in public, and then you'd finally remember your kind doesn't reach for ours."

Then she threw a fistful of money in my face.

"Don't go saying we bullied you. Consider it charity, for your hospital bills."

"We're leaving!"

"Marina, one day you'll pay for this."

She turned her head back to me with contempt, and that sneer in her eyes is something I'll never forget as long as I live.

Sarah stood there through all of it. Not one word of guilt.

I remembered how, when she first saw my mother in that corpse makeup, she'd had plenty of cruel things to say.

And now, knowing it was her own mother's doing, she'd gone silent.

In that moment, I no longer loved her.

I carried my mother out, only to find my car had been smashed.

The reason: in a lot full of luxury cars, an ordinary one like mine had no business being there.

I was furious, and sick at heart. How ugly could people get.

By the time I finally got my mother to the hospital, she was never going to wake up again.

I reached out and touched her cold, pale face, and the tears came down.

I sat there without a word until dawn, and when the sun came up, I got a call from a friend.

"Pat, get back here fast."

"The director's post was yours, but they just called an emergency meeting and handed it to Sean, of all people."

By the time I got back to the company, Sean had already taken my position.

"Perfect timing. Grab your junk and get out."

I picked up the box in silence and turned my head to look at Marina, elegant and untouchable, and Sarah beside her, not daring to lift her eyes.

"Marina, when you push someone this far, it comes back on you in the end."

I left those words behind and walked out holding the box, while Sean rushed to pop the champagne to celebrate.

Standing at the door, I clenched my fists so hard they shook.

And it was right then that a mysterious call came in.

The moment I saw the number, I knew the Hardings were finished.