"You won't do it, plenty of others will. You think CEO Gilbert really wants to hang around waiting on you? He hasn't divorced you yet—that's already more than you deserve. So what are you making a fuss about? Just sit there, be a rich wife, and shut up."
"Think it over. When you've come to your senses, call for us."
My fingers clawed into the mud.
Nails cracked from the force, blood mixing with dirt, the pain boring straight to the bone.
"Wait."
I lifted my head and forced sound through a throat so raw it barely obeyed.
"Tell Giles."
"I'll apologize."
"I'm going back for one thing. Once I have it, I'm gone."
"I will never set foot in the Gilbert house again."
The two guards exchanged a glance, then one of them made the call.
Before long, a blinding set of high beams sliced through the dark.
Giles had come himself.
He got out, walked over, and stood above me, looking down at the mud and filth covering every inch of me.
Something shifted behind his eyes, too fast for me to read.
Then it was gone, replaced by open mockery.
"Beulah. So your pride was worth exactly one night in the dark?"
"Could've spared yourself the trouble."
He reached down to haul me off the ground.