I Tore Up The Marriage Contract In Front Of Everyone

Chapter 2

Tea seeped rapidly across the table, leaving a large, dark splotch in its wake.

Patricia bit down hard on her lower lip, not daring to make a single sound of complaint even when it stung.

George's face turned thunderous. He shot Evan a sharp glare, and Evan had no choice but to step back, though he still fixed me with a look that screamed a warning.

"Emma, cut the crap. You don't get to ride the Spencers' coattails to get your way here."

I ignored him completely and walked straight up to Selena. She sized me up, her gaze landing on my bare wrist.

"Were you wronged back in the changing room just now?"

"No." I met her gaze head-on. "Hair grows back after it's cut. I've already made a note of who did this. They'll pay for it eventually."

She chuckled softly. "Good. You've got spunk. I like it."

She slipped the beautiful sapphire bracelet off her own wrist, took my hand, and fastened it around my wrist.

The cool, solid weight of the jewelry pressed against my skin.

A collective gasp swept through the hall. George shot to his feet so abruptly that his chair scraped against the floor.

"Selena, that's your family's treasured heirloom bracelet! How could you give something so precious to someone younger than you so casually?"

Everyone in Los Angeles's elite circle knew that the bracelet was the Spencer family matriarch's signature heirloom.

Years ago, when Selena had marched alone into the West District Docks and crushed every rival faction into submission, she'd worn that very bracelet on her wrist.

Patricia glared at the bracelet on my wrist, her nails digging so deeply into her palms that they nearly broke the skin.

She rushed forward in a hurry, her voice cloyingly sweet, trembling with poorly hidden eagerness. "Selena, my sister just came back to the city. She has no idea how valuable this bracelet is. What if she scratches or breaks it by accident? That would be such a shame."

She reached out, ready to yank the bracelet right off my wrist. "Emma, let me hold onto it for you for now, okay?"

The second her fingertips brushed the bracelet, I grabbed her wrist in a vice grip and twisted it outward hard.

She let out a shrill scream and crumpled to her knees on the carpet, half-propped up on one leg. "Let go! That hurts like hell!"

She twisted her head around, screaming for help from Evan. "Evan, help me!"

His face darkened instantly, and he stormed over in long, angry strides. "Emma, let her go right now!"

He had barely lifted his hand when Selena's redwood cane came cracking down hard on his forearm.

Crack.

Evan yelped in pain and stumbled back two steps, clutching his arm, his face twisted with shock and disbelief.

"Mrs. Spencer, Patricia was just worried the bracelet would get broken, she was trying to be nice by holding it for her! She lashed out completely unprovoked, am I not allowed to step in?"

Selena pulled her cane back slowly, her movements calm but unyielding.

"Who gave any of you permission to touch something I gave away?" Her voice was quiet, but it carried a heavy, oppressive weight that made the air feel thick enough to suffocate.

"Mr. Peterson, if you're that blind, go back to your family and find a doctor to fix your eyes. Don't stand here fawning over a petty thief like she's some precious gem."

Cold sweat beaded on George's forehead. He scrambled forward in a panic, trying to defuse the situation.

"Calm down, Selena. Evan is just young and hot-headed, he doesn't know any better. Emma, help your sister up right now. This is no way for a family to act! Making a scene like this in front of guests?"

I let go of her wrist.

Patricia crumpled to the floor, clutching her bright red wrist and sniffling. Evan immediately pulled her into his arms, glowering at me darkly.

"Is this the kind of barbaric garbage they teach you out in the countryside? Lashing out and hurting people at the drop of a hat? You have no right to call yourself the heiress of your family!"

"I don't deserve it? Does she?" I glanced down at Patricia, cold and unimpressed. "She stole my identity and lived the high life meant for me for twenty whole years, cut up my hair, and now she dares to steal my things. Who even does she think she is?"

Patricia buried her face in Evan's chest, her shoulders shaking violently with every sob.

"Evan," she whimpered, "I was just trying to make Selena happy . . ."

He patted her back soothingly, and when he turned to look at me again, the disgust in his eyes was so obvious he didn't even bother to hide it.

"Emma, you're only here because you lucked out and were born into the family. Other than that tiny drop of blood, what do you have going for you that makes you even half as good as Patricia?"

He fished a document out of his pocket and slammed it down on the coffee table.

"Since you can't stand to be around her, there's no point in us going through with this engagement."