I Tore Up The Marriage Contract In Front Of Everyone

Chapter 3

The engagement agreement lay still on the mahogany tabletop.

It bore the handwritten signatures of the patriarchs of both the Radcliffe and Peterson, a promise the Peterson clan had made when I first returned to the capital.

Every guest in the crowded hall turned their gaze to that sheet of paper.

George's face shifted drastically, and he snatched Evan's arm in a panic. "This marriage was arranged by the elders! You can't just act recklessly!"

Evan ignored him entirely, his eyes locked straight on me.

"Emma, if you kneel and apologize to her right now, then give her that bracelet as a birthday gift, I'll pretend none of this nonsense today ever happened." He tilted his chin up slightly, so sure I'd cave and beg for mercy.

"If you don't, my family will never let some rude, barbaric country bumpkin be their young mistress."

Tears still glistened at the corners of Patricia's eyes, but a smug little smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Evan, don't break off the engagement with her just for me. She's suffered so much growing up in the countryside. If she loses this marriage, how will she ever make a life for herself in the capital?"

"Whether she can carve out a place for herself here is up to her own luck." Evan's voice was icy cold as he spoke. "I'll give you three minutes to decide.”

Selena sat off to the side, straightening her sleeves slowly and deliberately. She didn't step in to interfere, just watched me with a look full of unspoken meaning.

I stared at that engagement agreement, and a sharp, bitter laugh almost burst out of me.

When I'd first come back to the family, Evan had stood on the front steps too, speaking to me in that condescending, charity-giving tone. He'd told me that as long as I stayed obedient and well-behaved, the position of his family's young mistress would still be mine.

For six whole months, I'd forced myself to learn all those stuffy, tedious social rules, swallowed every one of Patricia's petty provocations. And what did I get in return? Him taking her side every single time, no matter how out of line she was.

"I don't need three minutes." My voice rang out sharp and clear, cutting through the hush of the entire hall.

"Evan, do you really think being part of your family is some grand, once-in-a-lifetime gift I should be begging for?"

His eyes darkened instantly, his expression hardening immediately. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I walked over to the tea table and picked up the agreement.

A flash of joy crossed Patricia's face. She thought I was about to fold and give in.

The next second, I gripped the two edges of the paper and ripped it straight down the middle without a second of hesitation.

The clean, sharp tear cut through the silence, splitting the white sheet in two.

"Have you lost your mind, Emma?"

Evan lunged forward to stop me, but I'd already folded the torn pieces, ripped them again into tiny scraps, and flung the whole handful straight at his chest.

The bits of paper drifted down, dusting his custom-tailored suit.

"I'm done with this engagement." I stared right at his face, which had gone deathly pale with fury. "From today on, lose that 'I'm doing you a favor' act. You and Patricia? You're nothing but a pair of cheap, laughable clowns in my eyes."

"Emma!" Grandpa George was shaking so hard with fury he could barely stand. He grabbed a teacup off the table and hurled it right at my feet.

Porcelain exploded everywhere, and scalding hot tea splashed up, soaking the hem of my pants.

"How dare you! How did the family produce such an ungrateful, insolent wretch? Apologize to Evan right now!"

The surrounding bodyguards heard the order and immediately closed in around me.

Evan stood in the middle of the floor littered with paper scraps, his chest heaving violently.

He'd had everything handed to him on a silver platter his whole life. No one had ever humiliated him in public like this before.

"Fine. Real fine." He ground his teeth, a cold, bitter laugh slipping out. "If you're gonna spit on the goodwill I'm offering you, I don't have to hold back anymore."

He turned to look at Patricia, suddenly raising his voice. "Mr. Radcliffe, right here, in front of everyone, I'm making it official. The only person engaged to my family is Patricia Radcliffe."

Patricia froze for a split second, then unbridled joy spread across her face so fast it looked like it might burst through her skin.

Evan stepped right up to me, jabbing a finger at the bracelet on my wrist.

"You think slicking your hair back and throwing on a black suit means you're good enough to catch Mrs. Spencer's eye?

"Take that bracelet off and give it back to her, then get the hell out of the house. You think a hick from the sticks like you belong in LA's high society?" His voice boomed through the hall, sharp with unbridled rage.

A bodyguard lunged forward, hand outstretched to grab my shoulder. Patricia clung tighter to Evan's arm, her eyes sparkling with triumphant glee.

George sat at the head of the room, watching the whole scene play out with a cold, indifferent stare. He was clearly letting this happen.

I didn't step back an inch.

"Do you think I'll take this bracelet off just because you say so?" I flipped my wrist over, the bracelet glinting with a cold, sharp light from under my sleeve.

"Selena put this on me herself. Who the hell do you think you are to tell me to take it off?"

Evan was done playing nice. He lunged for my wrist.

"If you're too stupid to do the smart thing, I'll take it back for her myself!"

His fingers were inches from my skin when a deafening crash erupted from the carved screen behind us.