He Dared Me to Kneel, I Hit Him With Law

Chapter 2

At the police station, inside the conference room, Caden's mother, Diana Harlow, jabbed a finger in my face. "Lydia! Have you lost your mind? You had your own fiancé hauled off to the station before you're even married? Do you have any idea what you've done to this family's reputation?"

Caden sat in a chair with his handcuffs removed, one leg crossed over the other, looking thoroughly bored. Gemma was curled against Diana, sniffling.

"It's all my fault," Gemma said softly. "I shouldn't have made that joke. I don't blame Lydia for taking it seriously. She was only trying to do the right thing..."

"You hear that?" Diana looked at Gemma with a warmth she never once directed at me. "Look how thoughtful she is. And then look at you. Cold as stone. Not an ounce of human decency."

I took out a tissue and wiped the spit off my face. "Ms. Harlow, publicly insulting another person is also a violation of the law."

Diana raised her hand to strike me. The officer knocked sharply on the table. "Hey! This is a police station. Sit down."

She sat, seething.

The officer looked down at the report. "Based on our preliminary investigation, Ms. Gemma shows no physical abnormalities, and both parties confirm the exchange was made in jest." He glanced at me. "The caller acted in good faith. Since it appears to be a misunderstanding, we can resolve this with a signature and a mediated settlement."

Caden gave a cold snort and rose to his feet, walking over to stand in front of me. "Settle? Not that easy. You humiliated me in front of all those people, Lydia. If you want my forgiveness, here's what you're going to do." He gestured toward Gemma's feet. "She ran to the hospital in heels today and got blisters. You're going to get on your knees, right now, lick those heels clean, and say, 'I was wrong.' Do that, and we'll pretend none of this happened."

Gemma fluttered her hands in protest. "Oh, please, don't. You're a lady, I wouldn't want you to dirty yourself..." But even as she said it, she slid her foot forward.

The diamond-studded heel hovered right in front of my eyes.

Diana chimed in from the side. "That's right. You did wrong, you face the consequences. Who do you think you are, some princess? Keep pushing back and I'll make sure your father's company goes under by tomorrow. Gemma is practically your little sister. What's the big deal?"

I looked at Caden. "Are you sure about this?"

He lifted his chin. "Obviously. Don't want to? Then we call off the engagement. The Suttons have been running short on cash lately, haven't they? Without our investment, your father's got nowhere to go."

I had tolerated him for the sake of our families' marriage alliance. Tolerating this was another matter entirely.

I took out my phone and opened the camera. "Go ahead. Say all of that again."

Caden slapped the phone out of my hand. It hit the floor with a c***k, the screen shattering.

"Still recording? You self-righteous little hall monitor. You really think I won't hurt you right now?" He grabbed me by the collar and shoved me against the wall, fist raised.

The officers rushed in and grabbed him. "What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to assault an officer too?"

I leaned against the wall and smoothed out my crumpled collar, looking down at the shattered phone on the floor. "Property damage exceeding five thousand dollars. Attempted aggravated assault. Caden, congratulations. Your record just got a lot longer."

He kicked a chair across the room. "Fine! You want to talk law? Let's talk law!" He turned to Gemma. "Call our lawyer. Sue her. Defamation, damage to reputation. I want a million in emotional distress damages, not a cent less."

Gemma wiped her tears away, and a satisfied smile spread across her face. "Are you sure? Lydia didn't mean any harm..."

"Do it. Now."

Diana stood as well, glaring at me. "You brought this on yourself, Lydia. We're calling off the engagement. Tomorrow. Let's see how you explain that to your father." With that, all three of them turned and walked out.

I crouched down and picked up what was left of my phone, popped out the SIM card, and let the corner of my mouth curl up.

Cloud backup complete. Recording uploaded.

Call off the engagement? That suited me just fine. But first, I was going to make sure they understood exactly what the law was.