The Revenge They Never Saw Coming

I started choking almost instantly as the ice water slammed down on me.

Someone had locked the glass conservatory from the outside. The walls were transparent on every side. The lights out there were blinding, leaving no place to hide how wretched I looked.

The terrace of the banquet hall below was packed with people. They held champagne flutes as they watched me struggle to survive.

Some laughed.

Some whistled.

Others held up their phones and pointed the cameras at my rain-soaked face.

"This is wild."

"Mr. Jay really knows how to have fun. A surprise like this for his fiancée the night before the engagement? Wow."

"What surprise? Didn't you hear Sabrina? It's a test."

"A test of whether she's worthy of the Harrison family!"

Their jeers cut through the sound of the rain and into my ears.

My fingers locked around the door handle.

It wouldn't open.

An electronic lock hung on the outside, its screen glowing red.

Sabrina stood just beyond the glass in a clean, lovely gown, her makeup flawless. She looked like an innocent angel as she held a white umbrella over her head. She had a sweet smile on her lips as she playfully shook the remote control at me.

"Melanie, don't look at me like that. Everyone just wants to see how much you really love Jay."

She didn't raise her voice, but it was loud enough for the people nearby to hear.

Another burst of jeers rose from the crowd.

I wiped the water from my face. My voice trembled. "Sabrina, open the door."

She tilted her head as if I'd said something funny.

"But we're just getting started! We even made a bet on how long you'd last before you started begging to leave."

She stepped closer and looked at me through the glass.

"Weren't you always bragging about your independence? About how you're a strong and capable woman? Well, prove it."

I looked at her innocent face, my heart turning colder and colder with every passing second.

Tonight was the eve of my engagement banquet with Jay. The Harrison family had booked the entire hotel at the top of the mountain. Thus, news of my engagement to him would be on the headlines by tomorrow morning.

Jay had said this was the respect he owed me. He said that I deserved this much for I had stood by him through the three hardest years at Harrison Group. I had been there during the days when he was the illegitimate son the board had pushed aside to the day he finally took control.

He said I deserved to have my place beside him made official.

I thought that this was when my happily ever after would finally begin. I even cancelled three important meetings and personally checked every guest list and every payment record just for this banquet.

And now the man who'd promised me respect stood in the middle of the terrace below.

He hadn't come up. He hadn't told anyone to open the door.

The eaves kept the rain off him. He stood there in his black suit, bathed in warm, bright light as he coldly watched me shake under the ice water.

I shouted through the glass. "Jay! Tell her to open the door!"

I thought he would at least frown.

Instead, he unhurriedly tapped the ash from his cigarette. "Melanie, Sabrina's just being a little cheeky. You're older than she is, and more sensible. Don't hold it against her."