Chapter 4

Stella was livid. If the officers hadn't held her back, she'd have lunged straight at him.

"Victor! You son of a bitch, do you have a shred of conscience left? If it weren't for Val back then, you'd already be rotting behind—"

"Stella!" I cut her off and stepped inside, turning to the officer.

"I'm taking her home."

Before the officer could answer, Victor's voice came low and gravelly. "Someone hits my people, and they just walk away?"

I looked at the woman beside him—red-eyed, cradling her cheek, leaning into him. Then I looked at him.

"So what do you want?"

His brows were cold and flat.

"Your friend slapped one of my people. Now I want it paid back."

Stella laughed like she'd heard the world's worst joke.

"You want her to slap me? You—"

"Who said I wanted it from you?"

Victor cut her off, his gaze settling on my face.

"Valerie, your friend made the mistake on your behalf. The bill's yours to settle, isn't it?"

"You absolute—"

Stella was shaking with rage, ready to charge in and tear the two of them apart.

The next second, I spoke.

"Fine."

Stella's head snapped around. "Valerie, are you insane? He's the one who cheated. He's the one who wronged you!"

I ignored her and walked up to Victor and Judy.

"Go ahead."

Judy's eyes were rimmed red. Softly, she said, "Mr. Vance, don't put Mrs. Vance in a hard spot. I—"

"Slap!"

Before she could finish, Victor grabbed her hand and swung it hard across my face.

A scorching sting spread out at once.

When it was done, I turned to leave.

"Did I say you could go?"

His voice was cold as ice. "She slapped Judy once. I want it back tenfold."

He dragged Judy forward.

Before I could react, the slaps came down one after another.

"Slap! Slap! Slap—"

Nine slaps, each one heavier, each one crueler than the last.

With every blow, the last sliver of love in my heart faded a little more.

When the final one landed, I felt nothing at all.

Something warm trickled from the corner of my mouth, and my mouth filled with the taste of rust.

Not one officer dared to step in.

Because the man doing it was Victor Vance, the one who had all of Capital City under his thumb.

When he finished, Victor rubbed Judy's hand for her.

His voice dropped into a warning.

"Keep your friend in line. Next time, don't let her bark like a rabid dog and frighten my people."

With that, he took Judy's hand to leave.

"Victor."

I called him back and pulled out the divorce papers. "Let's get divorced."

Victor stared in disbelief. "You want to divorce me?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He fixed his eyes on me for a good dozen seconds. Then he laughed.

"Valerie, I haven't even settled the score with you for getting rid of the baby behind my back. And now you come to me with divorce. Playing hard to get?"

I tugged at the corner of my lips. "You're overthinking it."

His face darkened in an instant. He snatched the divorce papers, scrawled his name across them, and flung them back in my face.

"Valerie, a friendly piece of advice: without me, you're nothing."

"The day you come crawling back in tears, begging me to forgive you, I won't spare you a single glance."