Her Wedding, My Husband novel Chapter 3

Seeing the fear flash across my face, Victoria's red lips curved into a cruel smile. "Getting nervous? That must be quite the little luxury piece!"

Panic seized my chest. "The value doesn't matter! It's personal – please give it back!"

I reached desperately for the necklace.

This wasn't just another piece from Cartier; it was a sacred memento that my mother had sacrificed everything to obtain for me.

I had been deathly ill as a child, lying comatose in Mount Sinai Hospital at age four.

The specialists had advised my parents to prepare for the worst, but my mother refused to accept defeat.

She sought out an ancient monastery in upstate New York, praying ceaselessly for my recovery.

My mother, in the sweltering August heat, made a grueling pilgrimage to the remote sanctuary.

She was nearly delirious when she finally received this blessed necklace, driven only by her desperate love for me.

It seemed as if divine intervention itself responded to her unwavering faith.

Miraculously, I emerged from the coma, but the ordeal had permanently damaged my mother's health.

On her deathbed at Sloan Kettering, she made me promise to keep the necklace safe.

Since childhood, that necklace had been my talisman, a constant reminder of her love pressed against my heart.

It wasn't about the precious metals or gems. It was my last connection to my mother, and I couldn't bear to see it damaged.

"Try to get it back, and I'll make sure it's destroyed!" Victoria sneered.

Before I could move, she slammed the necklace onto the marble hotel steps.

The sickening crack of shattering metal and gems resonated through my body as the pendant exploded into fragments across the polished stone.

"No!"

My heart shattered with it, watching my mother's final gift disintegrate before my eyes.

I struggled to breathe, the world spinning around me.

"You absolute monster!" I snapped.

My former classmates' laughter dripped with cruel derision.

"Regret? This isn't high school anymore! Being valedictorian doesn't make you untouchable now!"

"Exactly! You're just another failed wannabe! Out here being a sugar baby and still think you can threaten us?"

"Know your place, side piece! You should be grateful anyone even looks your way!"

"How low can you sink? Sleeping with your old classmate's man? You're digging your own grave!"

They pinned me against the cold marble, their vicious taunts mixing with the crowd's jeers and spittle.

Victoria towered over me, victory gleaming in her eyes as she ground her Louboutin heel into my cheek.

"Regret? I've never regretted a thing in my life! I can't wait to see how you plan to make me regret this!"

Suddenly, a convoy of black Maybachs and Rolls-Royces thundered up to the hotel entrance.

Nathan stepped out of the lead car, surrounded by an entourage of suited executives...