Two Hopeless, Four Ruthless

The bodyguards shoved Iver and me onto the red carpet in the center of the banquet hall.

Portia walked to the stage and raised her voice above the murmur of the crowd. "Everyone, may I have your attention?"

The room went silent in an instant. Every pair of eyes turned toward Iver and me.

Portia snapped her fingers, and the massive LED screen behind her flared to life. It displayed a blurry photograph taken from behind. The woman in the photo wore a white couture gown and was stepping into a black luxury sedan.

Portia pointed at the screen, then at me.

"This woman right here is the homewrecking slut who seduced my husband. She's married, and she's still out here fooling around, dragging her idiot husband along as a shield. Does she really think everyone in Crestport is blind?"

She swept her gaze across the audience. "Take a good look. Tell me that isn't her."

I happened to be wearing a white dress that evening as well. Anyone in the room with a remotely trained eye could have seen that the fabric and tailoring on mine were leagues beyond the gown in the photograph.

My second brother, Lance Tanner, had flown it in from Valenne specifically for me.

However, not a single person in that hall dared to say so.

"The dress is identical. Even the hairstyle matches. It's definitely her."

"What a disgrace. She looks so innocent on the outside, but rotten to the core."

"And that poor idiot doesn't even know his wife's stepping out on him."

The vicious remarks crashed over us in waves. Iver had always been extremely sensitive to bright lights and loud noise, and the chaos and stares became too much for him. He pressed his hands over his ears in pain. "Millie..."

He curled up on the ground, his breathing growing faster and more ragged by the second. The color drained visibly from his lips until they turned a bruised shade of purple.

I broke down and threw myself over him, pulling him into my arms. "Iver! Look at me! Deep breaths!"

My hands shook as I fumbled through his pockets. He always carried his emergency medication and portable oxygen pump with him. The pump was a device that Niamh Langford, his second sister, had personally developed for his heart condition.

My fingertips had just brushed the pill bottle when Portia stepped down from the stage and brought her heel down hard on the back of my hand. She snatched the medication and the oxygen pump away.

"You want this little thing to save his life?" She tossed the oxygen pump in the air and caught it.

"Beg me. Get on your knees and admit you're the other woman in front of everyone. Then I'll give it back."

"Millie... don't kneel." Iver forced the words out with what little strength he had left.

"Portia Beaumont!" I lifted my head and fixed my eyes on hers. "My older brother is Calder Tanner. The Tanner family, from Kingsgate. If you so much as touch a hair on his head, the Tanners will never let this go."

Portia stared blankly for a second before erupting into shrieking laughter.

"Calder Tanner? The Calder Tanner?" She laughed until tears streamed down her face. "Have you been reading too many novels? If you're Calder Tanner's sister, then I'm the goddamn Pope's daughter. You didn't even bother doing your homework. Nobody from the Tanner family is here tonight."

She was right about that. Calder had not planned to attend the banquet at all. Iver and I had only come because I was bored in Crestport and heard the Beaumont party would be lively, so we tagged along to crash it and score a free meal.

Portia watched me fall silent, and her smirk deepened. "What's wrong? Run out of lies?"

She tilted her chin up. "If anyone from the Tanner family had actually shown up, my father would've cleared the room to greet them himself."

The butler watched Iver's condition deteriorate by the second, and he could not hold himself back any longer. He stepped forward. "Ms. Beaumont, the oxygen pump cannot be disconnected from him. He looks like he truly cannot hold on much longer."

The smile vanished from Portia's face. She glared daggers at the butler. "I've said that if he dies, I'll pay for it."

She raised the oxygen pump in front of everyone and hurled it to the ground. The crash echoed through the hall as it shattered into pieces.

"No!"

I lunged forward, but two more bodyguards pinned me down. Portia seized a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head back.

"Does it hurt? Watching your precious little husband suffer? Then be a good girl and get on your knees. Apologize on a live broadcast to all of Crestport. Admit that you're a shameless homewrecker. Admit that you seduced my husband.

"The second you bow your head and confess, I'll be gracious enough to send this idiot to a hospital."

Iver struggled to open his eyes and shook his head at me. "Millie... don't kneel."

How could I refuse? This was Iver, the boy I had grown up with.

I was about to drop to my knees when a deep, thundering boom shook the heavy mahogany doors at the entrance of the banquet hall.