“Everything.”
The single word from the phone’s speaker fell like a guillotine.
Vanessa’s perfectly manicured fingers trembled as she grasped the edges of Catherine’s phone. The arrogant smirk had vanished, replaced by sheer, suffocating panic. “Ryan! Baby, wait! I was joking! She twisted my words!”
*Click.*
The line went dead.
Silence crashed back into the high-end jewelry boutique. Under the blinding, cold artificial lights, the millions of dollars worth of diamonds in the display cases suddenly looked like shards of broken glass.
Vanessa’s chest heaved. The private jets, the penthouses, the endless credit limits—evaporating into thin air. Her carefully crafted facade instantly melted into pure, venomous rage.
“You evil bitch,” Vanessa hissed, her eyes wild. “You set me up.”
Catherine didn’t flinch. She calmly retrieved her phone and adjusted her diamond tennis necklace, her expression perfectly serene.
“I protected my empire,” Catherine corrected, her voice as hard as the white marble floor beneath them. “But you should really be thanking me.”
Vanessa scoffed, her fists clenching. “For ruining my wedding?”
“For saving you from a poor man.”
Vanessa froze. The rage in her eyes abruptly shifted to confusion. “What?”
Catherine leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a surgical, deadly whisper. “Ryan was so desperate to prove my suspicions about you were wrong, he made a blind bet. He swore that if I could prove you only wanted the family money, he would legally renounce his entire trust fund to prove love conquers all. Every penny. Every single share.”
Vanessa’s jaw practically hit the floor. The oxygen completely vanished from the room.
“He signed the papers this morning,” Catherine smiled, her eyes gleaming with absolute victory. She raised her hand and gently patted Vanessa’s shoulder—a flawless, mocking echo of Vanessa’s earlier threat.
“He has absolutely nothing left,” Catherine whispered, turning her back and walking toward the exit. “But at least he has you.”