The Devil Who Saved Me

Melina's POV CRACK.. came the ringing heat that bloomed across my left cheek, radiating toward my ear. My head snapped to the side with my hair falling, fueled by the force of the blow and for a second, the only sound in the Kincaid living room was the thumping of my own heart. “I said the lilies go on the south pedestal, you i***t! Are you deaf as well as useless?” I slowly turned my head back. My sister-in-law Cassidy Kincaid stood there with her face flushed a blotchy red that ruined her foundation. She was shaking a manicured hand at me with her sharp judgmental eyes narrowed into slits. She looked like a cat that had just found a mouse to pull the legs off of. I could have told her that the sunlight from the south window would wilt the lilies in twenty minutes.. I could have pointed out that her logic made as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. Back in law school, I would have torn her apart with a three-point argument before she could even blink.. but that Melina was dead.. she died two years ago, right around the time my father signed my life away. “I’m sorry, Cassidy.” I said. My voice was low, controlled and flat and it was the only way I could keep the snark from leaking out. “I’ll move them now.” “You’re damn right you will.” she hissed, stepping closer. “My brother is coming home for his second anniversary. He shouldn’t have to look at your pathetic confused face the moment he walks in. Fix it. Now!” From the armchair by the fireplace, Aunt Margot didn’t even look up from her tablet. She sat with her spine as straight as a ruler with her elegant severe features set like stone. She was the one who really ran the house.. While Cassidy was just the barking dog.. Margot was the one holding the leash. “Precision, Melina.” Margot said cooly. “A Kincaid home requires precision. Your mother clearly didn't live long enough to teach you how to be a proper wife or even a decent servant. It’s a shame. Perhaps if she had, you wouldn't be such a disappointment to Preston.” I gripped the edge of a crystal vase so hard my knuckles turned white. My mother was a better woman in her sleep than you are on your best day, you Botoxed gargoyle..! I thought. But I didn't say it because fear is a powerful muzzle. The Kincaids didn't just have money… they had the kind of power that made people disappear from the Los Angeles social scene without a trace. They owned the city and since my father passed away shortly after the wedding, I had no one left to catch me if I fell. “I’ll be more careful, Aunt Margot.” I whispered. “See that you are.” Margot murmured, finally looking up with watchful and calculating. “And straighten your dress. You look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge. Preston will be here in ten minutes.” I spent those ten minutes moving floral arrangements and adjusting streamers. Today was my second wedding anniversary.. two years since I had been forced to drop out of law school at nineteen to marry Preston Kincaid. It was supposed to be a “merger of giants.” But instead, it had been a two-year prison sentence. Preston was handsome in the way a predator is... all polished, impeccably composed and totally heartless! I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, looking at the “Happy Anniversary“ banner hanging above the grand staircase. I felt hollow. Every year of this marriage felt like a decade. I had tried to be the perfect wife.. I had taken the insults, the coldness and the “accidents.” I had given up my dreams of being a lawyer to become a decorative piece of furniture in a house that hated me. “Melina.” Margot called out with her voice oddly soft. I turned and she was standing now with a strange smile playing on her lips. Just the kind of smile a spider gives a fly. “Preston is pulling into the driveway.” she said. “Go to him. Since it's such a special day, walk right up to him. Give him a hug and show him you appreciate everything he does for you.” Cassidy giggled behind her hand. “Yeah, Melina. Give him a big warm welcome.” My gut twisted… they were never this encouraging. But the desperate starving part of my heart... the part that still hoped for a shred of peace... wanted to believe them. Maybe Preston was tired of the fighting too.. maybe just for today we could pretend to be human. The double doors swung open and Preston Kincaid stepped inside in his charcoal-gray Italian suit. His hair was perfectly swept back with his expression calm and arrogant. He was a man every woman in LA wanted and I was the one who had him.. or rather, the one he owned. “Preston!” I said, forcing a smile onto my face as I stepped forward with my arms outstretched and my heart pounding. “Happy anniversary.” I reached for him with my hands touching the fine wool of his jacket. Preston didn't hug me back and he didn't smile as his face twisted into pure disgust. He grabbed my shoulders... not with affection but with enough force to bruise... and shoved me away. “Get the f**k away from me!” he roared. I wasn't prepared for the force. My heels skidded on the tiles and I went down hard. My palms hit the floor with the sting of the impact vibrating up my arms. A peal of high-pitched laughter erupted from the living room. Cassidy was doubled over, pointing at me and Margot stood behind her with a triumphan cold glint in her eyes. “Oh my god!” Cassidy shrieked. “She actually thought he wanted to touch her! Look at her face!” I looked up from the floor with my breath hitching in my chest. “Preston? I... it’s our anniversary. I decorated the room… Aunt Margot said to do so. That.. that we were celebrating today.” He was busy straightening his cuffs looking at me as if I were a piece of s**t he’d just stepped on. “Celebrate? With you?” He let out a harsh laugh. “You actually think I’d spend another minute celebrating a mistake like you?” He stepped aside, gesturing toward the open door. A woman walked in. She was stunning.. her hair was a waterfall of dark waves with her features bold and glamorous in a way that commanded the entire room. She wore a dress that fitted her curves perfectly… a vibrant daring red dress that gave off Queen vibes. I knew exactly who it was.. Sienna.. Preston’s ex-girlfriend.. the woman everyone said he was supposed to marry before my father’s business deal got in the way. “Preston?” I whispered with my voice trembling. “What is she doing here?” Sienna didn't even look at me.. she glided over to Preston and slid her arm through his. He pulled her close with his expression softening into something I had never seen him direct toward me.. genuine warmth. “The party isn't for our anniversary, Melina.” Preston said with his voice dropping into a cruel low tone. “Don't be so full of yourself. You were just the hired help for the afternoon. You can take down these banners now.” “I don't understand.” I said with my voice cracking as I scrambled to my feet, trying to regain some shred of dignity but I felt small. “It’s an engagement party.” Margot chimed in from the couch with her voice dripping with satisfaction. “A real one for a couple that actually matters.” “Engagement?” I looked at Preston then at Sienna. “Preston, you’re married to me. I’m your wife. I’m not... You can’t just...” “You’re right.” Preston interrupted. “You aren't going to be a second wife.” He paused for a cruel second. “I’m divorcing you, Melina.” he broke the news. The air immediately left my lungs amd my vision blurred.. “But the merger... the companies...” “The companies are fine. Your father is dead and your family’s shares are already under my control. I don't need you anymore.. I never did.” He looked down at me with his handsome face twisting with a malice so deep it made my skin crawl. “You were a placeholder. A dull, boring and pathetic little girl who thought she could play in the big leagues.” “You used me.” I whispered. The hollow feeling in my chest was being replaced by a cold clarity. “You.. you took everything from me.” “And I’d do it again.” he said. Sienna leaned her head on his shoulder, smirking at me. “Don't take it so hard, honey. Some people are just born to be the stars and others... well, others are just the stagehands. Thanks for the decorations, though. They’re almost as tacky as you are.” I looked at Margot and Cassidy and they were beaming, enjoying my destruction as if it were a floor show.. This had been the plan all along.. the slap, the insults and the “advice“ to hug him... it was all designed to lead to this moment of peak humiliation. I looked at the man I had spent two years trying to please.. the same man who had broken my spirit, piece by piece. “I won't just let you throw me away, Preston.” I said with my voice finally finding its edge. “There are laws. There are...” Preston stepped forward, closing the distance between us. He was so close I could see the flecks of gold in his eyes... eyes that held no mercy. “Laws are for people who can afford them, Melina.” he sneered and then he did the unthinkable.. He pulled back and spat a glob of saliva hitting me square on the face…!