3. Legacy Sold

~Mia

The grip on my hair was so tight, I couldn’t even process the pain.

I reached up, clutching at the hand, trying to pull it off— but the grip only tightened.

“Where on earth do you think you’re going, you ugly buffalo?” Felix’s voice snarled behind me. “You think you can rat us out? That you’re going to tell the whole world what you saw today? Huh?”

“Let me go, Felix!” I cried, struggling, but he didn’t let up. Instead, he shoved me across the room.

SLAM!

My back crashed into the wall.

Before I could even recover, a slap landed on my face.

TAAAR!

— and then another hand grabbed my hair, forcing my face up.

It was Mercedes.

Her foot pressed harshly against my stomach, pinning me to the wall like I was nothing.

“You know what?” she hissed. “You’re not just fat and ugly. You’re stupid too — a full-blown idiot. Because tell me, how the hell do you think you can run your mouth about what you saw here, and I’d let you?”

She leaned in, her breath hot and venomous.

“Do you even know who my mother is? She’s a three-time beauty queen! And me? I’m not just her daughter — I’m a beauty queen in my own right. You really think someone from your low, dirty class could ever bring me down?”

I couldn’t speak. The pain was too much. I could barely breathe. My body was going numb — and all I could manage was a quiet, broken whisper:

“Let me go… just let me go…”

TARRR!

Another brutal slap whipped across my face. Blood trickled from the corner of my lips.

Before I could move, a second slap landed again! Harsher than the first.

“You think you’re wise?” Mercedes spat. “I’ll teach you a real lesson.”

She turned to Felix.

“What are you waiting for? Come teach this idiot a lesson she’ll never forget!”

Felix smirked, kissed Mercedes on the cheek, and stepped forward.

“Leave her to me,” he said. “I’ll handle her.”

Mercedes stepped back as Felix grabbed my hair again and slammed my head against the wall.

“You wanna speak the truth, huh?” he growled, still holding me by the scalp.

BANG!

My head hit the wall again.

BANG!

And again.

BANG!

He didn’t stop.

He kept bashing my head against the wall, again and again, as if trying to erase me completely.

I felt dizzy, as my vision blurred.

I could almost collapse, but I refused to give up.

No matter what happened, I clung tightly to the document in my hand — I couldn’t afford to lose it.

But the blows kept coming.

Slaps rained down from left to right, sharp and merciless.

In the middle of the assault, Mercedes suddenly paused, and her gaze immediately shifted to my hand.

“Hold on, Felix,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “It seems I just saw something.”

My heart skipped. No… please don’t tell me she noticed the files.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Felix asked.

Mercedes folded her arms and began walking closer.

I shook my head in panic. “What are you doing? Don’t come any closer!” I warned, my voice trembling.

She ignored me. When she reached me, she squatted down and stretched her hand toward the documents.

I jerked back, clutching them tighter. “No! Don’t touch it! This belongs to me!”

Her expression hardened. She grabbed my hair roughly, yanking my head backward.

“Will you shut that filthy mouth, you elephant!” she hissed. Then her hand went for the papers again.

I gritted my teeth and held on with all my strength. They can’t see what’s inside. They can’t.

“Let go!” she shouted.

I met her glare, forcing courage into my shaking voice. “This is my personal property, Mercedes! It belongs to me! I will not— and I will never— let you take it!”

Mercedes released a sharp breath and shrugged. “Fine then. Since you want to do it the hard way, I’m all in for that.”

She exchanged a quick glance with Felix— and before I could react, she grabbed my hair and slammed me to the ground.

A scream tore from my throat. Then came the pain — a heavy stomp landed on my head.

THUD!

My face pressed hard against the cold floor. The stomps came again and again, each one harder than the last.

I was in unbearable pain, but I still held onto the transfer of ownership documents. If they got hold of it, I’d lose everything— and I couldn’t let that happen.

But as the kicking continued, my grip began to weaken. I felt the papers slipping from my hands.

Someone tugged at them.

“Let go! It belongs to me!” I screamed, desperate.

But before I could even finish, the documents were ripped from my fingers. The beating stopped.

I lifted my head weakly and saw Mercedes standing above me, the documents in her hand.

She smirked. “Hmmph.”

My heart escaped as she flipped the first page.

“What on earth do you have here, Mia?” she mocked. “Let’s see.”

She scanned the contents — and suddenly her eyes widened.

“What?!” she gasped. “Over three hundred and fifty trillion dollars?!”

Felix, startled, turned sharply toward her. “What is it, babe? What’s she hiding in that document?”

Mercedes handed it over to him, scoffing in disbelief.

“Take a look at it, Felix,” she said. “This document is a massive contract — it states right here that the entire Preston Empire has been transferred to your name. Mia, the CEO of Preston Group, already signed the papers. All that’s missing is your signature, and everything that belongs to Preston Empire automatically becomes yours.”