In that desperate, final moment, the main gate to the estate was smashed open.
Charles Devereaux, with his son Caleb, finally arrived.
His face went ashen. He let out a horrified, strangled cry.
“What in God’s name are you doing?!”
The sudden roar made Victoria jump. The black rooster fell from her hands onto my body. Its beak pecked and tore at my open wounds, sending waves of fresh agony through me. My face was a twisted mask of pain, and only whimpering moans escaped my throat.
“Help me… the time for the ritual… it’s almost here!”
“Get this psycho away from me!”
Charles’s aged face contorted in a mask of pure fury. “You vile creature! What have you done?! Miss Hamilton is the protector of this family! Who gave you the gall to lay a hand on her?!”
“If tonight’s ritual is compromised, I will make you pay in blood!”
Victoria, realizing my words might have been true, was stunned. But years of rational, modern education made her dou- ble down.
“Mr. Devereaux, this woman is a fraud! You can’t believe her! If there’s a problem with your family, you go to a hospital! She doesn’t know any rituals, she’s just a charlatan!”
“This b bitch made up this excuse just to seduce Caleb! She wants to sleep her way into your family! I’m about to marry into this family, what’s wrong with me cleaning house?”
“Trust me, even if you skip the ritual tonight, nothing will happen! If you don’t believe me, lock her up and see for yourse- If”
A cold sweat broke out on Caleb’s forehead. He lunged forward and slapped Victoria across the face.
*Are you insane?! It is not your place to manage the Devereaux family’s affairs!”
“Miss Hamilton is our most honored guest, not the ‘bitch‘ you call her! I let it slide when you threatened the other girls at school to stay away from me, but you dare to touch Miss Hamilton?”
“Whether she has this power or not is something the hundreds of people in my family know far better than you!”
“This is the Devereaux estate! You do not make the rules here!”
His eyes, cold with fury, shot to the guards. “What are you waiting for?! Drag this lunatic away!” he roared. “If anything happens to Miss Hamilton, I will have your lives!”
The slap sent Victoria into a rage. Forgetting all decorum, she scrambled to her feet to confront Caleb.
“You hit me? You dare to hit me for this homewrecker?”
“Fine! So you two have been sleeping together all along! To hell with your stupid ritual!”
“You’re only interested in her because she’s poor and different from the other girls you’ve met! Men are all the same,
you’ll even eat shit if it’s new to you!”
If you touch me today, I’m calling my father right now to cancel our partnership! And you can forget about the marria- ge! Let’s see how you become the Devereaux heir without my family’s support! Let’s see how you fight off your father’s
bastard children for the inheritancel”
Caleb never imagined a cornered Victoria would air their dirty laundry in public. His face went white. He looked pleadin-
gly at his father.
“Dad, listen to me, I didn’t-
Chapter
Charles let out a cold, bitter laugh, nodding slowly. “So this is the fiancée you chose? Excellent. Truly excellent. Not
even in the family yet and she’s already got her eyes on the inheritance. No wonder you haven’t been to the office for days. Did you think this marriage made you untouchable?”
“Caleb, I’m telling you now, without my approval, this woman goes back to whatever gutter she crawled out of!”
“The Devereaux family did not get where it is today by letting outsiders dictate our business!”
“Get out, and take her with you! And don’t ever let
With t
me see either of you again!”
