Chapter 4

My steps froze. I turned back, unable to believe what I'd heard.

"You want an old man to... take off his clothes?"

The maids and bodyguards in the house gathered around, watching like it was a show.

Rachael's gaze flickered away for a second, then she cleared her throat.

"You're the one who asked for a divorce. And if we're divorcing, every asset needs to be settled first. Let's start with the clothes on your grandfather's back."

That outfit had been Rachael's gift to my grandfather for his eightieth birthday. Worth forty thousand dollars.

When he'd first heard the price, he'd hidden it away in a closet, never able to bring himself to wear something so expensive.

Today was the first time he'd put it on, just to come pick me up from the Decker estate.

My grandfather flinched and shrank back behind me. He didn't understand the family's so-called rules, but he understood exactly what Rachael meant.

He spoke up, hesitant and timid. "How about... I go into a bedroom and take it off there, then give it back to you? Would that work?"

Sean sneered. "Sir, we can't just let anyone wander into a Decker bedroom. If something went missing, you wouldn't exactly be able to explain yourself, would you?"

My eyes burned. My voice came out hoarse. "That's slander!"

Rachael cut me off immediately.

"Sean has a point. They're from the countryside, after all. Best not to do anything that might raise suspicion."

The moment she said it, she waved the bodyguards over and had them force my grandfather to the ground. The old man's face went white with fear.

My mind went blank. I was practically begging.

"Rachael, he's almost ninety years old. Please, let him keep some dignity. Let him take it off once we're home, and I'll bring it to you myself."

Rachael hesitated, but Sean cut in with a professional, businesslike tone.

"Mr. Levin, what if someone swapped it for a fake one? How would we settle the cost then?

"Better to sort it out right here, right now. You wouldn't want to be accused of pocketing it yourself, would you?"

I turned to Rachael immediately, my eyes burning red.

Her expression only darkened further. "Fine. Strip it off him now."

At her word, the bodyguards tore my grandfather's clothes off without a shred of mercy. His jacket, his pants.

The old man struggled with everything he had, but it made no difference. All he could do was stare at me, helpless.

The moment they reached for his underwear, I lost it and lunged forward.

"Stop it, all of you!"

Another bodyguard seized my arm and held me in place. I couldn't move an inch.

A second later, my grandfather had been stripped bare.

Laughter erupted all around, loud enough to bring the roof down.

"A man his age, stripped naked. What a disgrace!"

"Who told him he could wear something from the Decker family? Does he even deserve it?"

"God, my eyes! This is painful to look at!"

My grandfather lay on the floor, curled in on himself in despair. My grandmother tore off her own coat and threw it over him, sobbing.

Tears streamed down my face. I looked at Rachael. "Are you satisfied now?"

Her eyes were dark as ink, unreadable, except for the way her lips pressed together just a little too tightly.

"I'm only punishing you. The Decker family isn't somewhere you get to walk out of on a whim. And I won't tolerate you filing for divorce just because you're jealous."

I stared at her, my eyes red, and couldn't get a single word out.

Sean walked over with a suitcase and slid his arm around her waist.

"Ms. Decker, the flight for the trip is about to take off. We need to go now, or we'll miss it."

"All right."

Rachael picked up her suitcase and walked to the door, then paused.

"Clean up all the trash on the floor before I get back. That includes your divorce agreement."

The moment the door shut, a maid's scream tore through the hall from some distance away.

"Oh my god! The old man's slit his wrists in the bathroom!"

At the sound of it, my grandmother's breath caught. Her face went white, and she collapsed.

"Grandma!"

Everything went black, and I went down too.

In that moment, I knew it with total clarity. I'd lost my grandparents. And I no longer had Rachael, either.

Three days later, Rachael cut her trip short after all and caught the fastest flight home, a box of my favorite custom dessert in hand.

But when she pushed the door open and saw what was waiting for her, the box slipped from her fingers and hit the floor.