Chapter2 I didn't panic. Pushing through the crowd, I pointed straight at the boy's neck. "That pendant is mine. Give it back, or I won't let you get away with this." "If you don't believe me, check the engraving on the back: 'SV.' That's proof." Those initials-Victor's and mine-tied it to me. My mother in law went white. Her son, the man who'd always claimed to worship his wife, actually had a second household. No one here had known. Ignoring the blood at her lip, my mother in law blurted, "I swear, that pendant belongs to her." The staff exchanged uneasy glances. "She sounds so sure... could it actually be hers?" The manager laughed like a hyena. "You've got some nerve. Everyone knows Victor put that necklace on my son the day he was born." "A phony! Obviously someone's been digging for dirt. Reporters always sniff around my mate!" The employees snapped into action, faces full of fury and shame. They forced me down to my knees. "Bitch! You nearly tricked us!" the manager hissed. She ripped the pendant from the boy's neck and grabbed my chin so hard it hurt. "Wanted this, huh? Beg me for it." That pendant was the only keepsake my mother had left me. I wouldn't lose it. I pressed my lips white and forced out, "Please... give it back." She clapped slowly, delighted. "Can't make money, can't snare a man-now you're stealing my son's pendant?" She sneered. "What's next, you'll claim Victor's your mate? Fabricate more lies? Why not rob a bank while you're at it?" I straightened. "I am Victor's legal mate. Let go of me right now." Before I finished, she slapped me so hard I tasted copper. "Bitch! You'd steal my mate right in front of me?" She ordered someone to bring a blowtorch and watched with grim satisfaction as they melted the chain on the spot. "It's just a necklace. I could have a hundred of these-my mate'd buy them for me!" Her eyes were ice. "Stop!" my mother in law lunged for the torch to knock it away and was kicked in the gut for her trouble. She crumpled, gasping. I ripped free from the staff holding me and scrambled to her side. "Mom, are you okay?" The manager sneered and affected faux shock. "Oh, so you're mother and daughter-no wonder the old hag only bears little hags!" she mocked. "Who knows what filthy disease you're carrying? If you infect our guests, who'll take responsibility?" Chapter2 20.00% The moment she said "disease," the room turned. Patrons recoiled and whispering spread like wildfire. "Gross! No wonder-sleeping around." "If you're diseased you should die and stop infecting us!" "Stream this! Expose them! Let everyone see what scum they are!" Isswept the room with a cold, hard stare and spoke clearly, every word sharp as a blade. "I was asserting my rights and I was humiliated for it. If any of you find yourselves in a similar position someday, I hope you won't be proud of how you act today." "And if anyone here secretly films or slanders me, you'll be hearing from my lawyer." Then I drove the point home: "Are your taste buds broken or are you blind? Can't you tell this cake is garbage?" "A billboard that says 'luxury' doesn't mean anything if the dessert came out of a freezer. You mindless followers-can't you tell right from wrong?" Silence fell over the dining room. Furious and shamed, the manager snatched a bowl and flung it at us. It smashed with a crash, glass scattering across the floor. "You still talking back? As if we'd be scared of you two paupers!" Chapter2 20.00%