I reached for a slice of cake, but someone smacked it out of my hand and crushed it beneath their heel.
A group of rich brats burst into laughter.
One of them shoved my head to the floor. “This is where you belong; lick it clean.”
I struggled against them. The noise caught Jaxon’s attention.
Arabelle spotted me and spoke sweetly, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “This is the friend who just got out of prison?”
All eyes turned toward me, humiliation burning my skin as I remained pinned to the floor.
Then Arabelle knelt and pulled me up, gently wiping the cream from my cheek.
“Be grateful, okay? Jaxon, let you come back.”
Jaxon handed me a document. “Sign this. Marry someone in Arabelle’s place. Repay your debt.”
It was a marriage contract to wed a man in a coma.
Sneers echoed around me.
“They’ll probably substitute a rooster for the groom.”
“She’s marrying into the Montgomery family. Every bride there ends up dead.”
Jaxon looked torn. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to…”
“I’ll do it.”
I cut him off, just as calm as I had been when I fell for him all those years ago.
He stared at me, stunned. “You’re willing?”