Part 8
"Daniel, listen to me," Vanessa stammered, her face flushed with humiliation as the kitchen staff watched her unravel. "It's just a misunderstanding. I was trying to maintain some decorum in this house! We are getting married in six months! My family’s name is on the museum wings in this city. You can't let a maid and her brat ruin what we have!"
"There is no 'what we have,' Vanessa," Daniel said, his voice cutting through her words like a razor blade. "The wedding is off."
Vanessa froze, her jaw dropping open. "What?"
"You are leaving my house immediately," Daniel continued, stepping forward until he was towering over her. "And you will not be taking anything with you that wasn't bought with your own family's money. Slip off the ring, Vanessa. Now."
"You can't do this to me!" Vanessa screamed, her high-society posture collapsing into an ugly, frantic rage. "My father will ruin your corporate standing in New York! You will be a social pariah! I am a Cole!"
"And I am the man who holds the debt on your father's shipping firm," Daniel replied, his voice entirely calm, which made it infinitely more terrifying. "If you don't take that ring off in the next three seconds, I will call Priya and have her execute the foreclosure notices on your family's estate in Hampton before noon today. Don't test me, Vanessa. I am in no mood to be merciful."
Vanessa looked into Daniel’s eyes and realized, with a sudden, sickening jolt, that he wasn't bluffing. The man she thought she could manipulate was a predator who could crush her entire lineage with a single phone call.
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With shaking, humiliated fingers, she tore the massive four-carat diamond ring off her finger and slammed it onto the marble island. "You're a monster," she spat, her eyes wild with hatred.
"I'm a man who protects his own," Daniel said coldly. He turned his head slightly toward the foyer. "Security! Escort Miss Cole off the property. If she attempts to touch so much as a single piece of silverware, have her arrested for trespassing."
