Call an
ambulance! If anything happens to Miss Hamilton, the Master will have your heads!”
Victoria, consumed by rage, ignored him completely. Hands on her hips, she jabbed a finger at me.
“Are you blind? I’m Caleb’s fiancée, and I’m teaching a homewrecker a lesson. Who are you to interfere? You’re just a
dog kept by the Devereauxs. Don’t you know who your master is?”
She scoffed. “Save her? To hell with that. If I don’t tear her face off today, I’ll have wasted twenty years of my life!”
I raised a trembling hand, trying to signal the butler for help. But one of Victoria’s friends stomped her heel directly onto
my shattered wrist.
“Stop the act! We’re not as easy to fool as Caleb! You’re always clinging to him at school, your skin is thicker than a pig‘
s hide. It’s time you learned a lesson!”
“Tori is the one the Devereauxs chose for him! You’re just some charity case dreaming of marrying into a dynasty? You‘
re not worthy! I spit on you!”
Cold sweat drenched my body. I fought through the agony to explain.
“You’re mistaken! Caleb was talking to me about the ritual tonight. You’ve broken my hands…. the entire Devereaux fami
ly will die because of this!”
“Let me go! If you get me to a hospital now, there might still be time. If we miss the auspicious hour, the Devereauxs are
finished!”
Caleb was arrogant and looked down on everyone. If not for my pact with his family, I’d never willingly speak to him. But
choosing a harpy like Victoria as his fiancée? The Devereauxs‘ centuries–old legacy was about to be destroyed by her
sheer ignorance.
I thought my explanation might make her pause. Instead, she laughed as if it were the funniest joke she’d ever heard, her face a mask of cold contempt.
“A ritual? Honey, what century are you living in? You think anyone still believes that crap? If I hadn’t caught you today, I bet your ‘ritual‘ would have ended up in Caleb’s bed!”
“You little tramp, don’t you dare play innocent with me. Are you going to say the Devereauxs are only alive today becau-
se of you? Who the hell do you think you are?”
The butler, frantically making a call, rushed forward to help me, but Victoria slapped him across the face.
Chapter 1
“I am the future Mrs. Devereaux! I’d like to see anyone here dare to touch me!” she shrieked. “If a single hair on my head is harmed, Caleb will have all of your miserable lives!”
The guards flinched, not daring to move. The butler, afraid to offend Caleb’s fiancée, could only pace frantically.
One of Victoria’s friends sensed something was wrong. “Tori, they don’t look like they’re faking,” she whispered nervous-
- ly. “Maybe this bitch really is important to Caleb. He’s on his way here now, shouldn’t we wait?”
Victoria shot her a glacial look. “Do I need you to teach me how to handle a slut?”
“She’s just a tramp. Even if I beat her to death, Caleb wouldn’t dare say a word to mel He needs my father for that new project. You think he’d protect this bitch over that?”
