ley

t through the shocked silence. She rushed towards me, her face p

stab. "I' ve accepted the rules, Mother. Isn' t that what Robinson Dynamics values? Inte

his is not about rules, Bailey! This is about

, always Chandra, always their needs, their sensibilities. My three years away, working on humanitarian tech projects, had changed me. It had given me perspective, a sense of

off, Mother. And my fiancé, the man who was supposed to stand by me, helped seal the

got a little carried away. You know how sensitive s

smissal for me. "Sensitive?" I scoffed. "She sabotaged my presentation. She delibera

his voice stern. "Bailey, that' s enough. Chandra is family

. "She' s been undermining me for years, Father! Ever since she moved in, yo

met my eyes. It was the same old song and dance. Denial, d

said, his voice laced with warning. "This is neithe

I was tired of fighting. Tired of trying to

the glaring lights, the whispering crowd, and my family' s indign

he throng, I heard a voice

er me, grabbing my arm. His t

"You' re just upset. We can fix this. I can talk to your father, expla

supposed to marry. The man who had just thrown me unde

d, a forced smile on his face. "She didn'

ated, the sarcasm thick in my voice. "Funny, I though

a step closer, his eyes pleading. "Look, after this blows over, we can still have our dream wedding. I' ll even introd

h, just hours after his declaration of loyalty to my family' s i

don me for a prettier face, Kurtis? Or the kind who won' t stand by silently while their fiancée i

yes darting around th

d, my voice gaining strength. "A

ut no words came out.

who stood a few feet away, watching the scene unfold with an unreadable expression. The

pproached the maintenance worker. Kurtis stood

e, his eyes dark, intense. There was no pity,

clear and steady, loud enough for eve

in, louder than before. My parents cried out in

e dropped to my chin, then swept back up, meeting mine. His lips, usual

low rumble, barely audible over the sudden uproar

ing this because I' m tired of being played. I' m tired of fighting for people who don' t fight for me

dened, a genuine, magnetic curve that transf

he said, his grip firm as he to

Chandra' s face was twisted in a silent scream of fury. They called it a fit of pique, a ch

vershadowed by Holt' s mediocrity, of being systematically erased by Chandra' s feigned fragility. They d

id. It wasn't the future I had planned. But for the