Chapter 5

### Chapter 5

There was a beat of silence on the line, then a young man's steady voice came through:

"Sweet little sister, tomorrow we'll let you take your revenge yourself."

With my brother's backing, I let out a slow breath.

Julian Farley, I told you.

Every humiliation, I'll pay you back double.

Then I took a cab to a hotel nearby, to wait for the people my brother would send tomorrow.

In the middle of the night, the door was kicked open.

The instant I woke, I'd already been hauled up off the pillow.

Julian was wild with rage, nearly lifting me clean into the air. "Where have you hidden Anna?!"

I fought him with everything I had. "Have you lost your mind, Julian? I've never even met Anna Henson!"

"Liar!" His eyes were bloodshot. "If anything happens to her and my child, you'll die with them! Now talk. Where did you take her?"

Once, saving him, I'd had my leg broken by a drunk driver, and even then I'd never seen him this furious.

Anna vanished for a little while, and he was ready to bury me with her, no questions asked.

Maybe he'd never loved me the way I'd imagined.

Just then, Julian took a call.

"What? You found her? I'm coming right now!"

He shoved me into the car and ran every red light, tearing to the hospital.

The ward door swung open. Anna was lying in the bed, and the moment she saw me she scrambled off it and threw herself to the floor.

"The baby is innocent, Lorraine... I won't call the police and report that you kidnapped me. I'm only begging you, spare my child!"

I caught the flicker of calculation in her eyes, and I knew: this whole thing was her own performance.

"I have no idea what she's talking about." I turned to Julian. "Since she's fine, I can go now, can't I?"

"Apologize!" He blocked my path. "Anna's kind enough not to call the police, but you're going to make it right with her."

Absurd.

I stepped back twice. "I already told you, this has nothing to do with me. I will never apologize to her."

Anna suddenly clutched her belly, doubling over, and burst into tears.

"Julian, my stomach hurts so much! Are we going to lose the baby?"

At that Julian exploded and kicked the leg I'd once broken saving him.

The pain hit and dropped me straight to my knees.

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head down against the hard floor.

He didn't stop until blood was running down my forehead, his voice vicious:

"This is what you get for betraying me and bullying Anna."

He was the one who'd cheated, yet he slandered me without a shred of doubt.

I lifted my blood-red eyes to him.

"Julian, which of us ends up worse off? Tomorrow you'll find out."

He slapped me across the face, then furiously ordered his bodyguard to bring an iron chain.

"Don't think I don't know what you're scheming."

"I will never let you ruin the Farley comeback ceremony! You'll stand there and watch me take back the glory that's mine, and you'll be nothing but a maggot rotting in the gutter, forever!"

Then, ignoring my struggling, he chained me to the corner of the bed and forced me to watch him and Anna together.

I drifted in and out, passing out again and again, jolted awake each time by Anna's cries.

They didn't stop until the next morning, when they finally dressed and left, smug and pleased with themselves.

The most important day for the Farleys had finally come.

Julian walked the red carpet with his arm around Anna, heading for the platform at the center.

Above it hung a banner reading "Celebrating the Farley Family's Return to the Four Great Families," the whole hall glittering with gold, packed with guests.

The two moved side by side, the man in a crisp suit, the woman in a lavish gown. They did make a striking pair.

The host smiled and held out the microphone.

"Congratulations to the Farleys on rejoining the four great families. This is a proud day. Does Mr. Farley have anything to say?"

Julian straightened his jacket and smiled, every inch the gentleman.

"The Farley family has stood in New York for a hundred years, through every rise and fall. That we can return today, in glory, to our place among the four great families, is thanks to every family member and every employee who never stopped fighting for it."

Anna took the microphone, her voice gentle and gracious.

"Julian has run the Farley family for five years, and he's given his whole heart to it. As the housekeeper and the woman closest to him, I've lost count of how many times I ached for him and cried in secret."

"With him leading it, I have no doubt the Farley family will rise to new heights and become an indispensable pillar among the four great families."

The host looked toward the far end of the red carpet and announced in a ringing voice:

"And now, please welcome the representative of the four great families, the head of Pruitt Group, to the stage to preside over the Farleys' grand investiture ceremony!"

At once the cameras of a hundred outlets swung to the Maybach at the end of the carpet.

Amid all the anticipation, the door opened slowly, revealing an expensive high heel.

Then a woman, her makeup stunning, stepped out.

Confused murmurs broke out on every side.

"Wait, isn't the head of Pruitt Group a man? Why is it a woman?"