Chapter 2

I tore up the divorce agreement. Not because I'd gone back on what I said, but because I suddenly realized I didn't want a divorce anymore.

Why should I walk away with nothing? Why should I suffer for two years and then leave in disgrace? No. I'd changed my mind. I was going to make them beg me to leave.

Everyone froze. Carol's mouth dropped open, and James frowned. "Weren't you asking for a divorce?" she blurted. "Then why'd you tear it up?"

I said: "I changed my mind now. Didn't you call me your family's dog? Then I'm not leaving.

"A dog stays in the house, eats your food, drinks your water, and keeps circling around you every day. If you want me gone, give me thirty-five million dollars, and I'll leave right now."

Carol's face went pale. "T-thirty-five million dollars? In your dreams."

"Then don't blame me for staying put."

I turned and looked at James. His expression was complicated, anger, confusion, and something else I couldn't name. "Emily," he said, "what the hell are you trying to do?"

"What am I trying to do?" I laughed. "I'm trying to be treated like a person. James, you've never treated me like one. From today on, I'll show you exactly what a person looks like."

Then I picked up another piece of cake from the table and took a bite. "Not bad," I said. "A little too rich, though. No wonder your mom likes it." With that, I turned and walked out of the banquet hall.

Behind me, the room erupted. Carol crying, people trying to calm her down, someone already making calls, but I didn't look back.

When I reached the door, I heard James shout behind me, "Emily."

I stopped for a second but didn't turn around."What?"

"Stop right there," he said.

"Yeah, no. You think I stop because you say so? Who do you think you are?"

I walked out, and the door shut behind me. The hallway was quiet. Leaning against the wall, I drew a deep breath and realized my hands and legs were both shaking.

That scene had taken everything out of me. But it had been worth it.

My phone buzzed. Olivia Stone texted: [Em, I heard you smashed cake in Carol's face at the banquet. The video's everywhere. You're viral.]

I opened my feed, and the top post was the clip captioned [Rich Family Daughter-in-Law Snaps and Smears Cake All Over Mother-in-Law's Face.] It already had more than a thousand likes. I smiled. This was only the beginning.

I put my phone away and walked out of the hotel. It was already dark, and no one passing by knew the woman in the red dress at the curb had done something crazy. Then a cab pulled up in front of me.

The driver leaned out and asked, "Where to, miss?" I thought for a second and gave him an address, the Lancaster house.

"Going home?" the driver asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Home."

Back to the place where I'd suffered for two years. But this time, I wasn't going back as a dog. I was going back as the one in charge.

The cab pulled away. I leaned back and closed my eyes. James's final look flashing through my mind. For the first time, there had been something different in it.

I couldn't name it, but one thing I knew for sure: life in the Lancaster family would never be peaceful again.

The cab stopped in front of the Lancaster house, a three-story villa with a garden and fountain out front. When I first married into the family, I thought it looked like a castle.

Two years later, all I saw was a cage. I paid the fare, pushed open the gate, and walked in.

Nanny Grace the housekeeper was standing by the door. When she saw me, her eyes went wide. "M-Mrs. Lancaster, why are you back? Didn't Madam say at the banquet that you..."

"Lost my mind?" I finished for her. "Yep. I did. Now I'm home." Grace opened her mouth, but no words came out.

I changed my shoes, walked into the living room, dropped onto the couch, and propped my feet on the coffee table. The past me would never have dared.

Carol said it was rude, so I always sat straight as a schoolgirl. Today, I refused.

Grace stared at me in total shock. "Mrs. Lancaster, do you want to go rest in your room first? When Madam gets back and sees you like this..."

"Then she'll see it," I said, picking up the remote and turning on the TV. "What's she going to do, eat me?" Grace didn't dare say another word and backed off into the kitchen.

I flipped through channels, but I wasn't calm at all. My hands were still shaking, and my heart was racing. I knew there'd be a war the second Carol got back, but I wasn't scared anymore.

When I have already hit rock bottom, what else was there left to fear?