Chapter 2Trial by Fire

I slowly pulled up my pant leg and my sleeve, showing the landscape of fresh bruises and cuts.

"This one," I said, my voice shaking, "is from when Sienna insisted we go riding. She fed my horse a stimulant. It threw me, and I sprained my ankle."

"Last week, on the yacht? She 'tripped' and pushed me overboard. In the middle of the sound."

"The night before that, she..."

The room went quiet. Grayson's face was unreadable. Sienna and her friends just watched me, amused, as if I were a bug under a microscope.

I finished with the oil on the stairs. "Gray," I whispered, exhausted. "I'm done. I don't want to be tested anymore." "If you trust me, we'll get married. If you don't, then we..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. Sienna's hand cracked across my face. "You bitch," she sneered. "How dare you try to turn him against us."

I tasted blood. I looked at Grayson. My heart didn't just sink. It shattered.

The man who once had a panic attack when I cut my finger on a wine glass just sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Elara," he said, his voice strained. "You're going to be the lady of this house. You have to have a thicker skin than this."

He didn't defend me. He just motioned for his friends to follow him to the patio. He left me with one last remark. "My status, and yours... there's a huge gap. You have to be willing to sacrifice a little to fit in here."

His attitude was my death sentence. When he protected me, they treated me like royalty. When he abandoned me, I was their chew toy.

"Look at the way she walks," one of them laughed. "You can just imagine..." "No wonder Gray's been obsessed for seven years. She's probably a freak."

I turned to leave, but the next comment stopped me cold. "Like mother, like daughter. I bet her whole family was trash. Jailbirds and hookers."

A string inside me snapped. I’ve been an orphan my whole life, I know how to take a hit. But my grandfather was a decorated Vietnam vet. My grandmother was a trailblazing NASA engineer who died saving her team's research. My parents were decorated police officers, killed in a bust that took down the city's biggest cartel. They were heroes. I didn't even think. I just lunged and punched the man who said it. He yelped, and I hit him again. Grayson ran back in, pulling me off the guy. I was a wreck, shaking, my face wet with tears. "He insulted my family, Gray!" I cried, grabbing his shirt. "He insulted my parents. Make him apologize!" This was it. This was the moment I needed him. The man who loved me, the powerful man who could make it right. He looked at me, his face tight with anger. "Elara, stop. You're acting like you're from the gutter. You can't just attack my friends. If my mother hears about this, it will set us back months." It was like being doused in ice. The love I'd seen in his eyes for seven years... was gone. Replaced by... embarrassment. Fine. A man like that? I didn't want him. I looked at Sienna and gave her a weak, bloody smile. "You win. The trial is over. And so is the wedding." Grayson's face went white. He grabbed my arm. "Elara, don't say that. You're not joking about this." Sienna laughed. "She's bluffing, Gray. Don't fall for it." "Yeah," another said. "She's a nobody. She's not leaving you. Where would she even go?" Grayson's tense shoulders relaxed. He believed them. He tried to pat my head, like a dog. "The wedding is in two days. My grandmother is even sending the Thorne Emeralds from the vault. Go upstairs and rest. We'll try them on this afternoon." I was too tired to argue. I just pulled my arm free and walked away. "She's just being dramatic," I heard one of them say. "She'll be fine by dinner." I pulled out my phone. "Dr. Wells? About that surgical fellowship in Zurich... I'll take it." "Elara! Wonderful!" he boomed. "You have the best hands I've ever seen. You were born for this!"