Maria's expression grew more triumphant by the second. Then her gaze dropped to my neck and her eyes turned vicious.
"You shameless wretch. You spent my husband's money on gemstones? A one-of-a-kind piece from an auction house? You think you deserve to wear that? Give it back!"
She lunged forward and grabbed the stone at my throat with her bare hands. The chain bit into my skin and tore free, leaving a line of searing pain across my neck.
She clutched the blood-smeared gem like it was a holy relic, then looked at me as though she wanted to rip me apart with her teeth.
"Something this exquisite, wasted on trash like you. And that suit, Maria, look at the cut. Must be couture. I wonder which designer she conned it out of?"
I pressed my hand against the jacket instinctively, and my voice came out cold as frost. "You'd better stop. Right now."
### Chapter 3
Olympia Whitney, the biggest bootlicker in the group, looked at me with undisguised contempt. She pulled her kid's set of markers from her bag, raised her hand, and dragged one straight down my chest.
A thick black line tore across my couture white suit in an instant, running from my collarbone all the way down to my thigh.