Timothy Harris stood with his arms crossed, watching with cold detachment.
The bodyguards pinned my shoulders down.
"This is the family discipline we agreed upon when you married in. Do you accept it?"
I clenched my teeth so hard my tongue bled at the root.
Russ walked in from outside just then. He glanced over at the commotion, then looked away with complete indifference.
"Keep it down while you're disciplining her. I need to rest."
Sapphire let out a cold laugh but withdrew her hand. "Not worried about your wife anymore?"
"Last time I used the whip, you threw yourself in front of her like your life depended on it."
"How things change."
The Harris family had rules. When a man strayed, the family didn't punish him—they punished his wife.
Minor offenses meant copying family precepts. Serious ones meant the lash.
When Russ's affair with that young model came to light, my mother-in-law had whipped me once before.
That time, Russ heard the commotion and rushed home.
Just before her whip came down, he'd thrown himself between us.
"Mom, it's my fault. I won't mess around anymore. Don't hit my wife."
"Hit me instead."
He'd dropped to his knees and taken the lashes meant for me.