Chapter 1 - The Second Slap
The second slap was the one that ended my wedding.
Thirty men sat beneath crystal chandeliers while my new husband stared at me like I had embarrassed him by refusing to carry a whiskey tray.
My mother-in-law, Patricia Mercer, pushed the silver tray toward me again.
“Now you prove you can be a proper Mercer wife.”
I was still in my wedding gown. My veil had been removed, but the pins were still digging into my scalp. The ballroom smelled like roses, steak, and expensive bourbon.
I set the tray on the nearest table.
“I am your son’s bride, not unpaid staff.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Just do it, Elena.”
“No.”
His hand struck my face.
A chair scraped behind me. Someone muttered my name.
Daniel leaned closer. “Apologize to my mother.”
“You should apologize to me.”
He slapped me again.
That time, I tasted blood.
Something inside me went completely still.
I hit him back once, hard enough to make him stagger.
Then I raised my voice.
“Security.”
Two hotel guards moved from the ballroom doors.
Daniel stared at me. “You hit me.”
“Yes. After you hit me twice.”
Patricia shrieked, “After everything this family has done for you!”
I almost laughed.
I had paid the final balance for this ballroom. I had covered Mercer Construction’s payroll eight months earlier when Daniel told me one delayed project had created a temporary cash problem. And inside the white satin clutch under my arm was a flash drive containing forged lien waivers, altered vendor invoices, and an email Daniel had sent me three nights earlier asking me to make the numbers “look clean.”
I had spent seven years in corporate compliance.
He had somehow convinced himself I would marry him and stop knowing how fraud looked.
I picked up the unsigned marriage license from the head table.
“Congratulations,” I said. “You just canceled your wedding.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Not because of the marriage license.
May you like
His eyes dropped to my bridal clutch.
“Elena,” he said quietly. “Give me the bag.”
