Chapter 1 - The Breaking Point
"Say something," I whispered.
"Clara," Ethan repeated, his voice barely audible over the murmur of the crowd. He took a single step toward me, but his hand—the hand holding his champagne glass—didn't move. His gaze flicked nervously toward his mother, then back to me. "Don't make a scene. We can discuss this inside after the guests leave."
Don't make a scene.
The words settled into my chest like cold lead. My parents were dripping wet in a swimming pool surrounded by laughing millionaires, and the man who had promised to love me until death was worried about decorum.
"A scene?" I said. My voice was surprisingly quiet, but in the sudden lull of the terrace, it echoed.
I didn't wait for his answer. I turned my back on Ethan Sterling, stepped out of my silk heels, and walked toward the edge of the pool. The cold marble pressed against my bare feet.
I reached down and extended both hands to my mother. "Mom, take my hands."
My father pushed her from behind while I pulled, ignoring the water soaking through the front of my white gown. Together, we got her onto the stone deck. Next, I reached for my father. As he climbed out, his borrowed jacket heavy with water, he looked at me with eyes full of apology.
"I'm sorry, Clara," he rasped, coughing up water. "We ruined your day."
"You didn't ruin anything," I said fiercely, wiping a wet strand of hair from his forehead. "You showed me the truth."
"Are you quite finished with this tragic melodrama?" Olivia Sterling’s voice sliced through the air. She stood a few feet away, dabbing her pristine fingers with a linen napkin handed to her by a panicked waiter. "Clara, if you intend to join this family, you will instruct your parents to exit through the service gate. The valet will bring a utility van for them."
I stood up straight, turning to face Olivia. The crowd held its breath.
I reached to the back of my neck, unclasped the Sterling heirloom pearl necklace Ethan had given me that morning, and let it drop into the pool. It sank silently to the bottom.
"There will be no wedding," I said clearly, staring straight into Olivia’s ice-blue eyes. "And if you ever come near my family again, I will make you regret the day you were born."
Olivia scoffed, though a flicker of shock crossed her face. "You arrogant little nobody. You have nothing."
I looked over at Ethan one last time. He looked terrified—not for me, but of his mother.
May you like
"Goodbye, Ethan," I said.
Holding my parents by their arms, I walked off the Sterling estate with my head held high, barefoot and soaked in pool water, leaving the high society of the city in stunned silence.
