“Everything.”
The single word echoed from the phone’s speaker, cold and absolute.
Vanessa’s arrogant smirk shattered into pure, breathless terror. Her eyes darted wildly, her jaw dropping in disbelief as her trembling hands hovered near her chest.
“Ryan, baby, wait—” Vanessa stammered, her flawless facade disintegrating in an instant. “It’s a misunderstanding! I was just joking!”
“The wedding is off, Vanessa,” Ryan’s voice cut through the heavy silence of the jewelry boutique. “My security team is at the penthouse packing your bags. Your credit cards were frozen three minutes ago.”
The line went dead.
Catherine calmly slipped the smartphone back into her tailored white blazer. She didn’t gloat. She didn’t yell. She simply watched the gold-digger drown.
Desperate and cornered, Vanessa’s shock violently morphed into a vicious sneer. “Fine! Keep your spineless son. But I’m keeping the engagement ring. It’s a flawless four-carat stone, and legally, it’s mine.”
For the first time, Catherine smiled. It was a terrifying, predatory thing.
She snapped her fingers. Two armed guards stepped out from behind the boutique’s mirrored columns, instantly blocking the white marble exit.
“I didn’t bring you to my private jeweler today to pick out a wedding band,” Catherine purred, her own heavy diamond bracelets clinking like elegant armor. “I brought you here to secure company property.”
Before Vanessa could react, Catherine reached forward and smoothly unclasped the borrowed diamond pendant from the younger woman’s neck.
“I ran a background check the day you met him,” Catherine whispered, leaning in close. “‘Vanessa’ doesn’t exist. But Chloe Jenkins has three outstanding warrants for wire fraud.”
Vanessa spun around. Through the boutique’s frosted glass doors, red and blue police lights began to flash.
Catherine adjusted her blazer. “Next time you try to steal a kingdom, don’t threaten the queen.”