As the Fairchild heiress, I’ve always despised the color pink. So when I returned home after three years of studying abroad, the sight that greeted me was jarring. The walls and carpets of my fiancé's townhouse were drowning in an offensive shade of flamingo pink. Even our Russian Blue, Sterling, had a ridiculous pink bow tied around his neck. Confused, I called Nicholas. He casually explained that his sister had complained the decor was dated, so he’d had it redone last month. After hanging up, I scrolled through his sister’s Instagram. Her latest story screamed, “OMG, who even likes pink? It's so tacky.” The lie was so clumsy, so blatant. My heart sank. My instincts screamed that Nicholas had betrayed me, but I clung to a sliver of hope that it was all a misunderstanding. That hope was obliterated when I went to the bridal boutique to pick up my million-dollar couture gown. The truth was stark, undeniable, and wearing my dress—the scholarship student Nicholas sponsored. When I confronted her, she called me the other woman and sneered that I was a desperate old hag who couldn't keep a man. Nicholas arrived moments later, not to defend me, but to placate her. He told me to be the bigger person, that she "didn't know any better." As a Fairchild, I have never lacked grace. If she could have the million-dollar gown, she could have the engagement that came with it. He seemed to forget that a Fairchild engagement isn't a hand-me-down that just anyone can claim. … 1 “Where did this trash come from? Who told you you could touch my dress!” With my wedding just around the corner, I’d come to the boutique to see my custom-made gown. I never expected that the moment I touched it, I’d be met with the sting of a slap across my face. The dress was ripped from my hands, the tiny, sharp diamonds embedded in the lace scraping against my knuckles, sending a jolt of pain up my arm. I frowned, my cheek burning. “Who are you? This is my wedding dress!” Another slap. “You bitch! You’ve ruined my dress! You’ll pay for this! Do you have any idea how expensive this is? You couldn’t afford it if you sold your entire pathetic life!” I was utterly dumbfounded. Just then, the boutique manager rushed over, bowing and scraping to the woman. “Miss Rhodes, my deepest apologies! A new employee didn’t recognize your gown and brought it out for someone else!” This “Miss Rhodes” was now sobbing into her phone, wailing “Hubby, hubby” as she tattled. “Hubby, some broke woman got her filthy hands all over my dress, what do I do?” “Hubby, this was the dress you had made just for me!” The call was on speaker, and a voice I knew all too well drifted from the phone. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. We’ll just have them remake the damaged part. Don’t ruin your pretty little face over it.” That voice… it was my fiancé, Nicholas Rhodes. I’d heard whispers that Nicholas had found someone else while I was away. I’d asked him about it, more than once, and he’d always denied it. I’d even asked his parents, and they’d dismissed it as baseless gossip, rumors started by wannabe starlets looking for a benefactor. The Fairchild and Rhodes families had arranged this union years ago. We were just waiting for my return to finalize it. My mother had even commissioned a world-renowned designer to create my gown. But the dress in front of me, the one this woman was claiming, was not my size. The moment I’d held it, I knew the dimensions were all wrong. I was in the middle of questioning the staff when this woman had attacked me. She was still crying hysterically. The manager was sweating profusely, and the poor salesgirl who brought me the dress was apologizing over and over. Fearing the wrath of “Miss Rhodes,” the manager grabbed me by the arm and gave me a sharp kick to the back of my leg. I was already unsteady in my heels. The kick sent me sprawling, and I crumpled to the floor in a heap of designer fabric and shame. “Who is this tramp? How dare you touch the dress belonging to Mr. Rhodes’ fiancée! Get on your knees and apologize, now!” “Shut your mouth,” I sneered, my voice cold. “The Fairchild-Rhodes engagement was national news. This woman is no Fairchild.” The woman, enraged, stomped forward and ground her heel into my leg. “The Fairchild heiress? That old hag could never deserve my brother! He raised me himself, and he promised he would marry me!” An old injury in my leg flared with white-hot pain. I shoved her hard, sending her tumbling to the floor, where she immediately started wailing again. Annoyed, I pulled out my phone and called Nicholas directly. He picked up quickly, but his tone was clipped and impatient. “Victoria, I’m busy. A huge project just came up at the office. You said you were going to the boutique yourself, why are you calling me?” “Nicholas, you get your ass down to this boutique right now. Why is this stray you’ve picked up daring to touch my wedding dress?!” There was a stunned silence. “What stray? Who have you been listening to now? I know you’re upset I couldn’t come with you, but this is not the time for a tantrum.” “I’m busy. I’m hanging up.” And just like that, he did. My fists clenched. Fine. If he was going to be this dismissive, then I had no interest in a tainted dress. But he owed me an explanation. I struggled to my feet, my heart aching for the beautiful gown my mother had so lovingly commissioned. Since it had been defiled, I wouldn’t have it. I walked over to where it lay on the floor, picked up a corner of the delicate tulle skirt, and with a satisfying shriek of tearing silk and lace, I ripped the hem clean off. The woman’s eyes turned red with fury. She launched herself at me. “My dress! You bitch, I’ll kill you! Do you know who my husband is? He’s the heir to the Rhodes Corporation!” “I’m calling the police! I’m calling the police!” I just scoffed and dialed 911 myself. Given the gown’s seven-figure price tag, this was a major incident. The police arrived quickly. It was from them that I learned the woman’s real name wasn’t Rhodes. It was Jenna Mills, a scholarship student the Rhodes family had sponsored through college. After graduation, she’d been working as Nicholas’s personal assistant. Everyone in their circle knew the real nature of their relationship. But with my impending return, Nicholas had started introducing her as his “adopted little sister,” which is why everyone called her Miss Rhodes. “Officer, a month ago my husband told me he ordered a custom wedding gown for me from this boutique,” Jenna sobbed to the police. “It’s been tailored to my measurements for weeks! He’s already paid the deposit! And today this crazy woman just came in and destroyed it! You have to arrest her!” The boutique manager quickly corroborated her story. “It’s true, this young lady is Mr. Rhodes’ girlfriend. He brings her in all the time. The dress has been in alterations for her for quite a while. This whole thing is a terrible misunderstanding, but the damage has nothing to do with our store! It was all her!” he said, pointing at me. An officer approached me. “Miss, you claim this gown belongs to you. Do you have any proof?” “Of course I do. This boutique is the flagship store of a world-renowned designer. This gown was his personal creation for me. To prevent counterfeiting, there’s a microchip embedded in the seam. It can be scanned to verify the owner’s identity. And the bracelet I’m wearing is the scanner.” I handed my bracelet to the officer. He found the chip easily. The scan brought up my complete profile. “Miss Mills, or should I say, Miss Rhodes,” I said, my voice dripping with ice. “As you can see, this dress has a name. And that name is Fairchild. It is the private property of Victoria Fairchild.” “This gown is valued at 9.6 million dollars. You have altered it beyond recognition. You will be responsible for the full cost of the damages.” Jenna stared, dumbfounded. She’d had the dress for weeks and never noticed the chip. The manager’s face went pale, and he started frantically wiping sweat from his brow. But Jenna wasn’t ready to give up. “It’s fake! That’s fake! She’s trying to steal my dress! She must have come in here earlier and planted that chip! Otherwise, how come none of the tailors found it, but she knew exactly where it was? It’s a setup!” The manager, terrified of being implicated, quickly jumped to her defense. “Yes, that must be it! The Fairchild heiress has been abroad for years, with no word of her return. But Miss Rhodes has been here with Mr. Rhodes several times! Officer, we have security footage! It will prove that Mr. Rhodes and Miss Rhodes are a couple and that they came to see this very dress!” He eagerly offered up the CCTV recordings. I almost laughed at their stupidity. I wanted them to check the footage to prove I hadn't tampered with anything. But the manager, in a stroke of genius, claimed that day's camera feed was malfunctioning. Due to the high value of the item in question, we were all taken to the police station. My parents were overseas, so I called our butler to come get me. Jenna, of course, called Nicholas. But Nicholas, the coward, didn’t show his face. He sent his executive assistant, Megan, instead. Megan bowed deeply the moment she saw me. “Miss Fairchild, I am so sorry for what you’ve been through.” “Where is Nicholas?” “The president is in a critical meeting, Miss. The company has several major projects launching, and he simply couldn’t get away. He sent me to pick up Miss Mills.” I let out a cold laugh. “And you think she’s going anywhere?” Megan quickly dialed Nicholas’s number and handed me the phone. “Miss Fairchild, the president would like to speak with you.” I wanted to hear what he had to say for himself, so I took it and put it on speaker. The first words out of his mouth were drenched in condescension. “Victoria, can you stop making a scene?” “Jenna is a scholarship student our family sponsored. If word gets out that a massive corporation like ours is bullying a poor girl from an underprivileged background, how do you think that will look?” “You are about to marry into our family. Shouldn’t you be putting our family’s interests first? Come home. It’s just a dress. This is ridiculous.” “These years abroad have made you completely uncontrollable. You’re going to have to learn to control that temper once you’re married.” I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. I had truly been blind to this side of him. “Nicholas, do you have any idea what you’re saying?!” My sharp tone seemed to startle him into silence. If he had half a brain, he’d remember that between the two of us, I was the one who held the real power. But years of playing CEO had clearly rotted his mind. “Victoria, is that any way to speak to the man of the house? Where are your manners? It seems I’ll have to teach you a few things before the wedding.” “And don’t bother calling your butler. I’ve already had my people send him away.” My eyes widened. I couldn't believe his audacity. The next thing I knew, Megan was escorting us out. I was driven not to my home, but to a secluded villa in the suburbs. There, I finally saw Nicholas. “Nicholas, what do you think you’re doing? This is illegal confinement. This is kidnapping. Have you thought about what you’ll tell my parents?” In just a few short years, he was no longer the timid boy who used to follow me around, begging for resources. He now radiated the smug aura of a man in power. With a slight wave of his hand, Jenna would nestle into his arms, a pretty little toy in his palm. He scoffed at my words. “What is there to explain? You’ll be part of our family soon enough. Our families have collaborated on so many projects over the years. Do you really think your parents would risk billions in joint ventures over their spoiled daughter?” “Jenna might be from a poor background, but she’s taken care of me in your absence. She’s naive and inexperienced. Can’t you just be the bigger person and let this go?” “Nicholas, you are despicable! Who gave you the nerve to say such disgusting things?!” I screamed, cutting him off. He frowned dismissively, and his men immediately forced me to my knees. “It seems your time in exile didn't teach you any manners.” “Jenna,” he said, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Let her have a taste of what she gave you.” [To see how Victoria turns the tables and unleashes the full might of the Fairchild family on Nicholas, unlock the next chapter.] Jenna smiled as she walked toward me and slapped me hard across the face. “If I ruin that pretty face of yours, you won’t be worthy of standing next to my brother, will you?” With that, she ordered his men to slap me one hundred times. Blood trickled from my ears and mouth, and my head was ringing. Still not satisfied, Jenna ordered them to strip me. I fought with all my might, but they broke two of my fingers and tore off several of my fingernails. Nicholas had brought a small army of bodyguards. I was powerless. The feeling of their invasive eyes on me was the ultimate humiliation. “Victoria, you have a few days to reflect on your behavior,” Nicholas said, his voice cold. “I’ll be back in a week. I hope by then you’ll have learned how to please a man.” Then he left me there. I tried to escape, to make it back to the city, but the sound of howling wolves in the night sent me scrambling back to the villa. There was no food, no water. After three days, I collapsed on the living room floor, exhausted. I stared at my twisted fingers, my battered body, and gritted my teeth. Then, the villa’s main door was kicked open. My butler, Arthur, rushed in with a team of our own security. When I woke up again, I was in a private room in my family’s hospital. Arthur was sitting by my bed. He was overjoyed to see me awake. “Miss, you’re finally awake! You had me so worried. If anything had happened to you, I don’t know how I would have explained it to your parents!” “My parents?” My throat felt like it had been shredded. Every word tasted of blood. “They’re on a flight back now. They’ll be here soon.” “Good. Send a message to the Rhodes family. Tell them that if Nicholas is still able to stand by tomorrow, their family will cease to exist.”
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