I Confronted His Dad, He Gave Me An Island

Chapter 3

Miranda woke up to find herself inside a golden birdcage.

"Cedric Green! Show yourself!" She rattled the bars of the cage, but no one answered.

Instead, with a sharp snap, the spotlights blinded her, exposing her disheveled state to everyone present.

The crowd below instantly erupted into a chorus of catcalls and jeers.

Cedric nodded, and the host raised his microphone.

His voice boomed through the speakers, echoing in every corner of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's entertainment, auctioning off a night with the eldest Miss Jones! Whoever places the highest bid wins her for the night!"

Bids rolled in one after another, mingled with whistles and crude laughter.

"One hundred thousand dollars!"

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"

*****

Miranda stared dead at Cedric, still unable to believe he would actually give her away to another man.

Yet Cedric sat below the stage, holding Paige in his arms as he watched the scene unfold.

Paige snuggled into Cedric's embrace, feigning a look of distress. "Cedric, are you really going to give my sister to another man?"

Cedric knit his brows. "Just scaring her a little. She needs to understand exactly who holds the upper hand between us."

Cedric stood up, raising his hands to silence the crowd. "Rest assured and place your bids everyone. I, Cedric Green, will never break my word!"

A tearing pain ripped through Miranda's heart. She bit her lip hard to suppress the burning tears in her eyes.

They had been married for three years. This was a man who used to fly into a rage if another man so much as glanced at her. Now, he was putting her up for auction.

With the mounting bids echoing in her ears, Miranda closed her eyes in humiliation, fighting to stop her body from trembling.

Finally, a slick, oily voice cut through the noise and shouted, "One million dollars! Miranda Jones is mine!"

Miranda snapped her eyes open. She saw a familiar face standing beneath the stage, his eyes wide with excitement and malice as he stared straight at her cage.

Quentin Crowfield was a thug who had relentlessly harassed her during college. He had even tried to assault her at their graduation party. In response, Cedric had broken two of his ribs and cut off billions of dollars worth of business contracts from the Crowfield family, effectively forcing them to exile Quentin abroad.

She never expected him to return.

With a cold smirk on his lips, Cedric personally unlocked the cage and dragged Miranda out. "Miss Jones has a stubborn streak. I'll have my men escort her up to the VIP Lounge for you, Mr. Crowfield."

Miranda was dragged up to the second floor by bodyguards and thrown into one of the private suites.

Quentin rushed inside, his greedy gaze sweeping over every inch of her skin. "You've finally fallen into my hands, Miss Jones! I bet you never thought you'd see this day!"

"Quentin Crowfield, If you dare touch me, I will tear you to pieces!" Miranda grabbed a nearby decorative vase and hurled it straight at him.

"You still haven't learned your lesson, have you? Cedric just told me out there that after three years, he's completely sick of you. He told me to do whatever I wanted!"

Quentin lunged at her, but Miranda managed to strike him across the face.

"Ah!" A flash of raw violence crossed Quentin's eyes. His fists rained down on her like a thunderstorm. "You ungrateful b***h!"

Miranda could not help but scream, curling her arms tightly around her head, her eyes burning with absolute hatred.

Cedric had not left. He leaned against the wall in the shadows of the hallway outside, lighting a cigarette.

He listened to Miranda's screams, the shattering of objects, and Quentin's brutal laughter filtering through the door.

Of course, he had no intention of actually giving Miranda to another man. He only wanted to terrify her, to break her stubborn pride, and to teach her how to submit.

Just as Cedric timed it out and prepared to kick the door open, a bodyguard ran up to him and lowered his voice. "Miss Paige has fainted. I've prepared a car to take her to the hospital immediately."

Cedric's brow furrowed tightly. He immediately crashed his cigarette, turned on his heel, and strode downstairs.

As he descended, he gave an order to the bodyguard behind him, "Go inside, get my wife out immediately, and take her home."

"Yes, sir," the bodyguard replied, bowing his head.

Without another moment's hesitation, Cedric hurried into his car and sped off toward the hospital.

The bodyguard walked up to the door. Listening to the increasingly horrific noises inside, he felt the thick stack of cash hidden in his pocket.

A cold sneer crept onto his face.

He hung the 'Do Not Disturb' sign onto the doorknob, turned around, and walked away.

Inside the VIP Lounge, Miranda lay on the floor, barely breathing.

Quentin straddled her, grabbing her hair to yank her head back. "My proud Miss Jones, look at you now, sprawling at my feet like a dog!"

Miranda's face burned with agonizing pain. Through her blurred vision, her eyes caught sight of the letter opener discarded on the floor.

In the next second, she summoned every ounce of her remaining strength to fling Quentin off, lunging forward to grip the silver blade tightly.

"b***h! Still fighting back!" Quentin cursed, grabbing her ankle to drag her back.

Miranda spun around, her eyes flashing like those of a dying, cornered animal. She drove the silver letter opener hard into Quentin's arm!

"Ah!"