Chapter 6
Steven’s face was already puffed from the slaps, but he just kept begging. “Cecilia, I’m sorry. Please, I’m begging you. Hit me all you want–I won’t fight back.”
Xander glanced down. “Cece, you’re hurt. Let me handle this.”
“No.” I didn’t even blink. “This is for our baby. I’m not letting it go.”
I turned back to Steven. “Spare you? Not a chance–unless you’re ready to die and join my child.”
At that, his eyes bulged. He looked seconds from peeing himself.
Then he snapped at his parents. “Why didn’t you tell me about
the divorce?”
Jennifer shot back, “Didn’t I call you?”
And yeah Steven remembered. She had. But he’d been wasted and thought it was a dream. He figured I’d never actually leave. Thought I loved him too much.
Now he just dropped to the floor, shaking. Full–on panic mode. If he’d just called back, none of this would’ve happened.
But truth is, Steven was too busy hooking up with Peggy to care. Only now did he finally get how bad he’d blown it.
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Chapter 6
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Steven suddenly latched onto my ankle. “You’re mad I cheated, right? I didn’t mean to! That slut Peggy came on to me!”
He spun on her. “This is your fault! You said the marriage certificate was fake! You pushed me, said it didn’t matter! I wouldn’t have hit Cecilia like that if it weren’t for you!”
Peggy didn’t see that betrayal coming. Panic hit her face. “Mr. Zane, it wasn’t my fault. Steven made his own choices. Cecilia and I were friends… you’re not gonna hurt me, right?”
I kicked Steven off. “Don’t touch me.”
Then I locked eyes with Peggy. “You were never my friend. You killed my baby. You’re the enemy.”
Her face went ghost–white.
Xander waved a bodyguard over. They brought me a chair.
“You two,” he said, voice like ice, “kneel to my wife. Don’t stop until I say so. Every time you slap yourself, say ‘Mrs. Zane, I was
wrong.‘
!!!
Steven and Peggy dropped fast, scrambling like they were about to beg for their lives.
“Mrs. Zane, I was wrong,” they chanted over and over, voices shaking.
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By the end, Steven was shaking, barely able to keep himself upright. “Mr. Zane… is that enough?”
Xander didn’t even flinch. His stare alone could break him.
“Steven,” he said, calm and cruel, “what you did to my wife today? I’ll make you pay for it–a hundred, a thousand times
over.”
Then he gave the word, and the guards moved in.
Steven lost it, screaming as they dragged him away. “Dad! Mom! Help me! I’m your son!”
Theodore and Jennifer stood frozen, tears streaming, but they
didn’t move an inch.
They knew better than to go up against Xander. The
guy had been in a coma for years, woke up, and still managed to lock down the whole Zane empire. No one questioned what he could do.
Losing Steven hurt, but risking the entire Garrett name? That was a line they couldn’t cross. So they just stood there and watched him disappear.
Xander took my hands gently. Even with the bandages, the damage was obvious. He looked at me–pale, bruised, broken- and his eyes filled with guilt.
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“I’m sorry I was late,” he said. “Everything back home is handled. I’m making our marriage public. I want the whole world to know you’re mine. No one’s ever touching you again.”
