Chapter 3

The surgery lasted nearly five hours.

When it was over, Maverick looked at me.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"It feels strange, yet somehow familiar," I said, being honest. "Thank you, Dr. Barnett."

He gave a slight nod and turned to take care of the post-surgery instructions.

Later that afternoon, I was sitting in my assigned cubicle, going through the files Maverick had given me.

The folder contained surgery videos and notes. I was so absorbed in watching them that I didn't notice when a cup of takeout coffee was quietly placed on the corner of my desk.

Maverick stood nearby, holding another cup of coffee.

"Staring at the screen too long can mess with your judgment," he said. "It's sweet, just like you used to like it. I wonder if your tastes have changed now that you've grown up."

I froze for a moment, looking at the coffee, then at him.

Behind his glasses, his gaze was intense and hard to read.

It almost felt like he'd never said anything about recognizing me.

But I suddenly snapped the folder shut, glanced at the time, and blurted out in a hurry.

"Thank you, Dr. Barnett," I said. "I need to go, bye!"

With that, I grabbed my bag and bolted out of there.

I didn't really calm down until I got home.

But the moment I checked my phone, it started ringing. My dad was calling.

"Get your ass home right now!" he barked.

I knew there was no escaping this.

As soon as I pulled up in front of the old mansion, the iron gate was yanked open from the inside.

The butler kept his gaze lowered, avoiding eye contact with me, and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Miss Randolph, your parents are waiting for you in the living room," he murmured.

The living room lights were glaring, almost blinding.

My dad, Uriah Randolph, sat upright on the main sofa. My mom, Selah, was right beside him, her eyes rimmed with red and her breathing uneven.

The air was tense, like the hush right before a storm hits.

"Get on your knees," my dad ordered.

He didn't even bother to look at me as he threw out the command.

I didn't move, keeping my back perfectly straight.

"I haven't done anything that means I should be on my knees," I shot back.

"You didn't do anything wrong?!" Mom snapped, her voice icy.

She stormed over to me in a few quick steps, hand raised high.

The crisp slap echoed through the empty living room.

My cheek stung like fire, and my ears buzzed.

"Just look at what you've done!" Mom yelled, her finger nearly poking me in the nose. "That's it. The wedding's canceled.

"The Delacruz family has been blowing up your dad's phone. They're demanding to know what the hell the Randolph family is up to. Are we breaking the agreement? Are we just stringing them along for fun?

"Do you even realize how many times your dad had to swallow his pride and play nice, just to keep things from falling apart?"

Dad finally met my eyes, his gaze cold and empty.

"Have I not told you just how crucial this marriage is for the company?" he said. "The Delacruz family's project was our ticket to turning things around this year. Now it's all ruined because of you."

"Because of me?" I shot back.

I raised my head, my left cheek still burning, but my heart was turning to ice.

I said, "Camron came back the day before the wedding with his first love and told me straight up he was calling off the wedding.

"Shouldn't the one who broke the deal be the one apologizing and making things right? Why should I be the one?"

"So you just let him walk away?" Mom cried, her voice breaking with tears.

She snapped, "Couldn't you just tough it out? Every guy has a past—so what?"

"What happened to all that desperate begging to marry him? Couldn't you have fought to get him back? Even if you just went through with the wedding and figured it out later! Now you just walk away. How are we supposed to face anyone?

"Everyone we know—family, friends, business partners—they're all watching us make fools of ourselves."

"So in your eyes, my marriage is nothing more than a transaction to keep up appearances and secure some benefits, isn't it?" I demanded, my voice trembling.

"Even if he tosses me aside like garbage, you expect me to just smile, pick it up, hold it with both hands, and keep fulfilling this deal?" I shot back.

Dad gave a cold laugh and got to his feet.

He said, "Without the Randolph family, you think you'd have any of this?

"You learned piano, went to med school, did whatever you wanted, right? Mallory, you took everything the Randolph family gave you. Now it's time to pay it back.

"Marriage is the price you pay."

"So I'm just supposed to let myself be humiliated?" I shot back, locking eyes with him and refusing to look away.

I demanded, "I'm supposed to let his first love walk all over me in front of everyone, let him toss me aside like garbage, and then grovel for his attention?

"Dad, Mom, I'm your daughter, not some item you can slap a price tag on and push onto someone even when it's damaged goods."

"How dare you!" Dad roared.

He grabbed a porcelain cup from the coffee table and hurled it to the floor, shattering it right in front of me.

"Just look at yourself. You drop your job whenever you feel like it, call off your wedding like it's nothing, and now you're running back to the hospital, back to your old profession? What kind of future is that? How is any of this supposed to help the Randolphs?" he shouted.