Chapter 3

Without waiting for Leon’s response, I turned to leave, but Nicole wouldn’t let it go.

Emboldened by Leon’s presence, she stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “Bitch, don’t you dare run! You hit me in front of everyone and humiliated me—we’re not done here!”

I shot her a cold look. “What do you want to do about it?”

Nicole smirked and thought I was scared. She raised her hand and swung it toward my face. “I’ll stop when I’m satisfied!”

I caught her wrist mid-air. Then I raised my other hand and slapped her across the face.

The crack echoed through the silent fitting room. Her eyes went wide with disbelief, and tears welled up instantly. “Bitch! How dare you!”

I slapped her again with my backhand. “Are you satisfied now?” I asked, my voice flat.

Those two slaps knocked all the arrogance out of Nicole. She covered her reddening cheeks and scurried behind Leon, tugging at his suit sleeve.

She sobbed, “Leon! You have to stand up for me! She hit me! Right in front of you!”

Leon pulled Nicole into his arms and gently brushed his fingers over her flushed cheek.

When he lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes had turned to ice. “You touch my woman,” he said, his voice dropping to a low growl. “You’ve got a death wish.”

He raised his hand, and the four bodyguards behind him immediately stepped forward, forming a circle around me.

Before they could touch me, I struck first.

I threw a punch at the closest guard and landed it square on his nose. He let out a grunt and staggered backward, crashing into a rack of gowns.

Though I could easily take down one, I was outnumbered.

Another guard grabbed my arm from behind and slammed me onto the floor. My knees hit the marble with a sickening crack, and pain shot up my spine.

Then the third guard drove his boot into my side. The pain folded me in half.

They yanked me back to my feet and dragged me in front of Leon, my arms twisted behind my back. Every movement sent a fresh wave of agony through my ribs.

Leon wrapped his arm around Nicole’s shoulder and looked down at me, a cold smirk playing on his lips.

“Nicole,” he said, “do whatever you want with her today. I’ll handle the consequences.”

With those words, Nicole’s confidence came roaring back. She crouched down in front of me and slapped me hard twice across the face. My cheeks burned and soon swelled.

Then she spat right in my face. “Bitch! You were so tough a minute ago. Where’s that attitude now, huh?”

Her saliva dripped down my chin. I turned my head away in humiliation and clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached.

Yet, she still wasn’t done.

She drove her heel into my stomach. I let out a choked groan and curled into myself, my abdomen feeling like it had been hit with a sledgehammer.

I lifted my head and looked at her, then at Leon. My voice trembled with pain. “Listen, you’ll pay for this. Both of you!”

Nicole laughed, loud and cruel. She grabbed my chin with her nails and forced my head up. “The Scott family is one of the three biggest powers in New York. What are you going to do to us? Come on, you’re just a nobody. Today I’m going to show you what happens when you cross me!”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small eyebrow razor. The tiny silver blade glinted under the lights.

She held it tight, and without a moment’s hesitation, she dragged it across my face.

A searing pain tore through my cheek. The skin split open, and blood beaded along the cut. Warm liquid trickled down my jaw and soaked into my light-colored sweater, blooming into red stains.

Someone nearby gasped, “We told her not to mess with the Scott family. She wouldn’t listen. Now look at her.”

“Such a pretty face. Shame about the scars.” Another voice let out a sigh.

“People like us—we should know our place and don’t poke the bear,” someone else chimed in.

Nicole raised the razor again. The cold metal pressed against my cheekbone.

Fear gripped my heart. I was terrified, genuinely terrified. The thought of being scarred for life sent ice through my veins.

I hadn’t done anything wrong—she was the one who’d provoked me and hurled insults at me first.

But at this moment, pride was a luxury I couldn’t afford, so I swallowed it whole and decided to beg for mercy.

I forced the words out, my voice hoarse with panic. “I’m sorry. The dress is yours. I shouldn’t have fought you over it.”

Revenge could wait. Right now, I needed to save my face.

But instead of letting me go, Nicole pressed down and sliced another cut across my right cheek. The fresh wound crossed over the old one, and blood dripped in a steady stream.

She let out a snort. “Too late for sorry, bitch! You think I’m letting you off that easy? Not until I’ve had my fill!”

I cried out and turned to Leon, tears mixing with blood as they ran down my face. “Leon, do you even know who I am? You’re going to regret this. You and her both—you’ll regret every single thing you’ve done to me today!”

Leon kept his hands in his pockets and tilted his head with a dismissive sneer. “Who you really are? You’re nobody. Just some lowlife's daughter who somehow hypnotized my father into forcing this marriage on me.”

Nicole crouched in front of me and tapped the flat side of the razor against my unscarred cheek. Her eyes gleamed with malice. “Your father is trash. So that makes you trash, too. I’ll strip you down in front of everyone, so you might remember this lesson well.”

She reached for my collar, and I was stunned.

A panicked cry tore out of me. “Don’t touch me!”

Right then, my phone rang from inside my bag.

I didn’t need to check the screen. I knew it was my father. That old song, the one he used to whistle for me, was my ringtone for him.

A spark of hope ignited. I thrashed and struggled, desperate to reach it, but the two guards held me down.

Nicole fished the phone out of my bag, swiped to answer, and my father’s gentle voice came through the speaker.

“Rosie? How’s the dress fitting? Why does it take so long for you to answer the call?”

I screamed with everything I had, “Dad! Help! Come get me! They hurt me and that woman is even trying to strip me!”

My father’s voice hardened instantly. “What?! Who did this to you?!”

Nicole yelled into the speaker, “I did that. Your little mutt of a daughter was asking for it, and I’m giving her exactly what she deserves!”

At those words, my father’s voice dropped to a low growl. “I don’t care who you are. Let my daughter go right now, or I swear—when I get there, you’ll regret it.”

“Come if you dare! I’m right here waiting. I’ll teach you a hard lesson too!” Nicole spat.

Then she hung up the call and slammed the phone onto the floor.

The screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks, and the battery popped out and rolled into the corner.

Nicole slapped me across the face once more. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Your father’s just as arrogant as you—and it’s really starting to piss me off. When he gets here, I’ll make sure he pays for it too.”

Leon chuckled and patted Nicole on the shoulder. Then he leaned down until his face was inches from mine. “You heard her. If your old man shows up, he’s kneeling right next to you.”

I lay pinned to the floor, the two guards pressing me down.

Blood from my cheeks dripped into my mouth, and the taste of metal mixed with the bitterness of humiliation.

Minutes crawled by, but somehow it felt like an eternity.

Then, through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the boutique, I saw a familiar black stretch limousine pull up along the street outside.

The door opened, and my father stepped out. Six bodyguards in dark suits followed close behind.

His voice carried from the doorway. The quiet authority in it seemed to press against the walls, and every murmur in the fitting room died at once.

“Tell me,” he said. “Who exactly is it that wanted to teach me a hard lesson?”