"Dominic just called my dad. He threatened that if I dared come pick you up, the Hartwell family's entire funding chain would collapse by tomorrow."

"My dad locked me in my room... Gabriella, please, just give in. Dominic's lost his mind!"

My heart sank.

Dominic had cut off my very last escape route.

Through the rain-blurred glass, I could see him holding a glass of red wine. He swirled it lazily, savoring the sight of me standing in the downpour.

Millicent was kneeling at his feet, massaging his legs.

The scene burned my eyes and killed whatever feeling I had left for him.

I realized then that you shouldn't go digging through the trash for something worth keeping. Garbage was garbage. It belonged in the bin.

I drew a deep breath and shoved my frozen hands into my pockets.

If no one was coming, I'd walk.

I turned around and plunged into the rain.

Bang! I hadn't taken two steps before a black Maybach screeched to a halt in front of me, spraying a curtain of muddy water.

The window rolled down. Spencer stepped out under a black umbrella.

He looked me up and down with open contempt, then dropped a garment bag at my feet.

Through the half-open zipper, I could see a cheap white bridesmaid dress inside. The loose threads hadn't even been trimmed.

Spencer stared at me, his tone dripping with condescension.

"Miss Robinson, Mr. Kessler has been generous enough to extend an offer."

"Miss Abbott is walking the red carpet tonight, and she's short an assistant to carry her train."

"Mr. Kessler says all you have to do is put this on and attend to Miss Abbott this evening."

"Your credit cards will be unfrozen by tomorrow, and there might even be a seat for you at the wedding."

He wanted me to carry the train for the woman who stole my gown?

Wearing this?

It was pure humiliation.

I stared at the garment bag on the ground. My whole body was trembling from the cold, but my spine stayed straight.

"Go back and tell Dominic."

"He can drop dead."

Spencer's expression shifted. He jabbed a finger at my face and started cursing.

"Gabriella, don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

"You think you're still the future Mrs. Kessler?"

"You're nothing now! Without Mr. Kessler, you can't even afford your next meal!"

He snapped his fingers, and the rear door of the Maybach swung open.

Two bodyguards jumped out and seized my arms from both sides, wrenching them behind my back.

"Let go of me! What are you doing!"

I fought with everything I had, but my body was so numb from the freezing rain that I couldn't summon any strength.

Spencer picked up the mud-soaked bridesmaid dress from the ground and shoved it into my arms.

"Mr. Kessler's orders. You had your chance to do this the easy way. Now we do it the hard way."

I was forced into the car. The door slammed shut behind me.

The Maybach tore through the storm, heading straight for tonight's film festival red carpet.

The air conditioning inside the car was set low. I sat there in my soaking clothes, lips turning purple, teeth chattering.

Spencer rode in the passenger seat, watching me through the rearview mirror with a thin smirk.

"Miss Robinson, if you'd known it would come to this, you might've saved yourself the trouble."

"Women. All you have to do is swallow your pride and play nice, and you'd have everything you wanted. But no, you had to go head-to-head with Mr. Kessler. And who's the one suffering for it?"

I closed my eyes and refused to listen to another word.

Half an hour later, the car pulled up behind the red carpet venue.

The bodyguards shoved me out.

In a lounge not far away, Millicent was wearing the bridal gown that should have been mine, surrounded by a swarm of reporters clamoring for interviews.

Dominic stood beside her in a tailored suit, gazing at her with open adoration.

When he saw me being dragged over, he excused himself from the press and strode toward me.

His eyes dropped to the mud-stained bridesmaid dress clutched in my hands, and a slight frown creased his brow.

"What happened to you?"

He slipped off his suit jacket and moved to drape it over my shoulders.

That same hollow tenderness in his voice.

"Gabriella, you're just too stubborn. If you'd simply do as you're told, why would I ever let you suffer like this?"

My stomach turned. I shifted away, dodging his touch.

The jacket fell to the ground.

Dominic's expression darkened, his eyes turning vicious.

"Gabriella Robinson. My patience has limits."

He seized my chin, forcing my head up.

"Now. Go change into that dress. Immediately."

"When Millicent makes her entrance, you'll be behind her, carrying her train."

"And if you dare ruin this..."

A cold smirk crossed his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jade bracelet.

My grandmother's jade bracelet. The only thing she'd left me before she passed.

"Dominic! Give it back!" I lunged for it, desperate.

He raised his right hand high, his gaze merciless.

"Carry her train, and I'll give it back."

"Otherwise, I'll smash it right now."

My grandmother had slipped that bracelet onto my wrist on her deathbed. It was the last thing I had left of anyone in this world.

Dominic's fingers tightened around it. One slip, and the jade would shatter against the floor.

"I'll count to three."

He stared down at me.

"Three."

"Two."

My whole body trembled. My nails dug into my palms until I felt the sting of blood.

"One."

"I'll change!"

The words scraped out of my throat. My eyes burned.

Dominic smiled, satisfied.

He pocketed the bracelet and patted my cheek.

"Good girl. Go on. Millicent's about to make her entrance."

I took the mud-stained bridesmaid dress and walked into the restroom.

The woman staring back at me in the mirror looked wrecked. But her eyes were ice.

Five years. For five years, I'd hidden my identity as the founder of a venture capital firm to protect his ego.

I'd stayed home willingly. Played the woman behind the man.

I thought I'd fallen in love with someone ambitious.

Turns out, I'd just been feeding a selfish animal.

Dominic Kessler. Every ounce of humiliation you've heaped on me today.

Tomorrow, I'll make you repay it with the entire Kessler empire.

I didn't put on the bridesmaid dress.

I threw it straight into the trash.

I pushed open the restroom door and walked toward the red carpet staging area.

Millicent was on Dominic's arm, ready to step onto the carpet.

The moment he saw me walk out in my soaking wet clothes, his face went black.

"Gabriella Robinson! Did everything I said go in one ear and out the other?!"

His voice was a low snarl.

Millicent put on her wounded look. "Gabriella, how could you do this? Without someone carrying my train, this gown won't have nearly the same effect."

I looked at them both. Cold. Silent.

Up ahead, camera flashes were already firing. The host was calling Millicent's name over the speakers.

I ignored Dominic and turned toward the exit.

"Stop her!"

He didn't care about the scene anymore. He gave the order outright.

The two bodyguards rushed me. A boot slammed into the back of my knee.

I wasn't ready for it. My legs buckled and I crashed to the hard ground.

White-hot pain shot through my kneecaps.

Nearby crew members and reporters turned to stare. Someone raised a camera.

Dominic strode over, towering above me, his eyes devoid of anything human.

In front of everyone, he pointed his finger directly at my face.

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen of the press."

But the words that left his mouth were devastating.

"This woman is a low-level assistant at my company who's been harboring delusional fantasies about me."

"She actually had the nerve to sneak backstage today and cause a scene, trying to sabotage Miss Abbott's red carpet moment."

"Get her out of here. Drag her out before she dirties everyone's evening."

The room erupted.

Countless camera flashes fired at once, capturing me on my knees.

He wanted to use this to destroy my dignity.

The bodyguards seized my arms and hauled me toward the doors, out into the pouring rain.

Dominic stood with his arm around Millicent's waist, watching me go.

"Gabriella, this is what happens when you don't behave."

"Tonight, you can sleep on the street and think about what you've done."

They threw me into the mud outside the backstage doors.

The rain hammered down, washing the blood from my knees in thin red rivulets.

I lay in the filth, staring back at the two of them glowing under the red carpet lights, and a cold smile curled across my lips.

From my soaked pocket, I fished out a black encrypted phone.

My fingers trembled as I punched in a number.

Abner Griffin's private line.

Abner Griffin. The most feared power broker in Grandview's elite circles, a man no one dared cross. He was also the only partner who'd stood beside me years ago when I built my venture capital empire on Wall Street.

For five years, he'd willingly stayed in the shadows, managing my tens of billions in overseas assets. Countless times he'd barely held back the obsessive love burning behind his eyes, begging me, voice raw, to leave Dominic. And every time, I'd stubbornly refused, clinging to the idea that I wanted the quiet, ordinary love of a normal life.

It took until today for the truth to finally hit me. Some trash didn't deserve real love.

The call connected.

"It's me."

"The game is over. Pull every domestic investment from Kessler Group. Cut off their entire funding pipeline."

"And one more thing."

I closed my eyes and let the rain pound against my face. When I opened them again, nothing remained but cold resolve.

"Abner, come get me. Tomorrow, I want Dominic Kessler and his Kessler Group erased from Grandview City."

A few seconds of silence on the other end. Then a man's voice came through, low and rough, laced with long-suppressed anguish and lethal intent:

"Ten minutes. And Dominic Kessler pays with his life."

I hung up. Not far away, inside the lounge, Dominic and Millicent's laughter still carried through the walls. They were still dreaming of keeping me under their heels.

They had no idea they were already finished.