Chapter Seven: The Devil Defends His Bride

"Who did you just call a filthy slut?"

That voice didn’t rise. It cut.

The entire room went still.

My Husband is here.

I turned my head just in time to see Dominic Blackwood step into the hospital room like he owned it—no, like he owned the world and had just walked into a piece of it that offended him.

His gray suit was pristine. His eyes? Deadly. Focused entirely on the doctor whose hand was still gripping my bruised arm.

The doctor, oblivious to the death glaring through Dominic’s eyes, just puffed up his chest as if he had done something to be rewarded for. “Mr Blackwood, it’s nothing serious, this useless woman can’t pay her hospital bills and won’t leave even when I’m asking nicely.”

Dominic took a step forward and I could literally see him struggling to contain his demons. “Let. Go. Of. Her. Arm.”

That was when the doctor realized that Dominic wasn’t smiling with him at all .He dropped my arm like I was diseased, his own skin paling in fear. “M-Mr. Blackwood, I didn’t know—”

Dominic didn’t let him finish.

The slap came fast. So fast the sound echoed a full second after it happened.

The doctor stumbled back, crashing into the rolling tray. A metal tray clanged to the ground. The stethoscope around his neck snapped.

“Didn’t know?” Dominic’s voice was silk over steel. “Didn’t know you were verbally abusing a pregnant woman? Didn’t know you were putting your hands on my wife?”

"W-Wife?” the doctor stammered, hand over his face.

Dominic didn’t even glance at him. His gaze swept to my father.

“And you.” His voice dipped lower. "What exactly were you doing here, Mr. Miller? Supervising the assault, or just enjoying the show?”

My father frowned, as if he didn’t hear Dominic calling me his wife. He forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Mr. Blackwood, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Scarlett has always had a flair for dramatics. You know how women can be, especially when—”

Dominic’s stare cut him off mid-grovel.

Still, my father cleared his throat and tried again, this time with that fake businessman polish I knew too well.

“Look, I respect you. Everyone does. You’re a brilliant man. Ruthless, efficient, admired—hell, my entire boardroom quotes you like scripture,” he said with a shaky chuckle. “But this is a family matter. A father disciplining a disobedient daughter. It’s not your concern.”

My stomach turned.

“She’s not worth your time,” he added casually. “She was never good at following rules. Never quite fit in. Always needy. Weak. Whiny.”

He dared to glance at me like I was an embarrassing investment he could write off.

My nails dug into the sheets.

Dominic didn’t move. His hands stayed calmly at his sides, but the room dropped a degree colder.

“I treat my daughter how I see fit,” my father continued, his voice low and defensive now. “And I don’t appreciate outsiders involving themselves in things they know nothing about.”

That was when I realized—My father is digging himself a very deep well.

“You think I know nothing about my wife? Are you calling me incompetent?”

My father stiffened. “You’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t—”

Another slap.

Harder this time. Louder. Brutal enough that my father’s head jerked to the side and blood rushed to his cheek.

I didn’t even flinch.

Dominic adjusted his cuff and turned to me, his eyes flickering between that danger and the semi softer one he has for me. “I’ll ask only once, wife,” he said, voice flat and final. “What do you want done to them?”

The room stopped breathing. The power has been handed over to me.

My heart was pounding so hard, I felt it in my throat.

Then I smiled.

“They were warned,” I said, brushing my hair behind my ear. “I told them not to do something they’d regret.”

Dominic’s mouth twitched and he patted my hair. “Good Girl, now show them how much power a Blackwood woman wields.”

I turned to the doctor first, slow and steady.

“You’re fired,” I said.

His jaw dropped. “You can’t—”

“I can.” I pointed to the door. “You’ll never work in this city again. Not in any hospital, not in any clinic, not even in a goddamn nursing home.”

He opened his mouth to protest.

I cut him off. “Your license will being reported for misconduct, abuse, and coercion. Your name will be flagged in every medical system in the country. Your career ends today. I hope whatever amount you were paid to humiliate me lasts till you die because you will not be getting any more while you live.”

His knees buckled slightly. “P-Please… I was paid to do it. It was just orders. I didn’t mean—”

“You called me a filthy slut,” I said, voice razor-sharp. “You put your hands on me. My baby could’ve died.”

Tears welled in his eyes. “Please—”

“Get on your knees and beg somewhere else,” Dominic snapped. “Out.”

Security arrived before the man could say another word. They dragged him out screaming, stethoscope dangling like a noose.

Now it was my father’s turn.

“You always told me I was worthless,” I said quietly. “You just forgot to mention it was projection.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Scarlett, listen. This is all a misunderstanding. The Reynolds—Victoria—she manipulated the whole thing. I didn’t know they’d cut you off like that. I didn’t know Blake would—”

I laughed.

“You didn’t know they’d cut me off? You watched them do it. You helped them do it.”

“I was scared!” he cried. “They threatened our business. I didn’t know you’d be… married to him.”

He looked at Dominic with awe and terror.

“How did you even…?” he muttered. “How did he choose you?”

Dominic raised a brow. “That’s none of your concern.”

“You can’t just—” my father began.

“I can,” I cut in. “You’re nothing to me now. Just a stranger who wandered into the wrong hospital room.”

“But I’m your father!”

“No. You’re the man who sold me off for status and called it love.” I lifted my chin. “And now you’ll be treated like the trespassing scum you are.”

Dominic nodded at the guards. “He harassed my fiancée and threatened her in front of medical staff. Call the police. I want charges filed before dinner.”

“No!” my father screamed. “Scarlett, please! They’ll bury me! You know what Blackwood does to people—please, baby, I’m sorry!”

He dropped to his knees as the guards grabbed his arms.

“You called me weak,” I said, my voice flat. “Let’s see how strong you are when they drag you through the mud.”

The guards yanked him up. One of them snapped a photo of his ID for the report.

“Scarlett, I was wrong,” he sobbed. “I should’ve protected you—”

I turned away before the tears could burn.

“Out,” Dominic said again, voice deadly calm.

They were both gone in under two minutes.

Silence returned. The room felt lighter.

I let out a shaky breath. “T-thank you.”

“You are a Blackwood woman now… never forget that no one can dare to walk all over you again.”

I sniffed. “Thank you.. it’s just so hard to switch when all my life, I’ve been walked all over and no one ever stood up for me.”

“Never again, Scarlett. Not while you’re mine.”

I smiled and nodded.

Dominic crossed the space to me and held out his hand. “May I?”

I took it, letting him help me ease back onto the bed. He touched my arm—right where the IV had been ripped out—and frowned.

“I’ll have this entire wing gutted if anyone else touches you again.”

I laughed softly. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Only the beginning.”

I looked up at him—this cold man who’d just burned two lives without blinking—and for the first time, I didn’t see a stranger.

I saw a weapon.

My weapon.

And maybe… something more.