Second Chance Vows novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Slapped

Perry slaps Trent for the slander, Cosima throws Tiffany off, Trent calls the police, and the manager arrives and learns who she is.

"You think you can cheat on me and keep my father's money?" Tiffany said before Trent had finished shouting.

"Aren't you afraid I'll cut off your father's company? One call and Fairchild Freight has no steel."

"I told my father an hour ago to turn down your contract," I said. "We're finished, Tiffany. All of it."

Her mouth fell open.

"You canceled the deal? For a girl you met today? Did she bewitch you?"

Every head in the shop turned toward us.

I stepped in front of Cosima so that Trent's finger pointed at my chest instead.

"She's blind," I said. "She never walked past you. How would she take a ring out of your pocket?"

"It was a gift from Tiffany," Trent said, and his voice shook with hurt. "It's worth more than a car. Anyone would sell it for a lot of medical bills."

He looked at Cosima with his chin lifted, as if he were ashamed of his own suspicion.

Then he looked at me, and his eyes got sly.

"Or maybe you're jealous, Perry. Maybe you're doing all this to make Tiffany angry, and now you're letting your little pet steal from me to finish the show."

Tiffany's shoulders came down, and she sounded almost kind.

"Fine. If she gives it back right now, I won't call the police. And you and I can go on with the engagement."

She truly believed that was generous.

I knew this scene, and I knew every beat of it.

In my first life, Trent had fallen down the school stairs and said I'd pushed him.

He had said I tore up his homework, and he had said I turned his friends against him.

Tiffany had believed every word, every time, without once asking me for mine.

In the end I had stopped explaining.

Today I stepped up to my cousin and slapped him across the face as hard as I could.

The sound rang all the way to the dressing rooms.

Trent staggered back with his hand on his cheek, and his eyes filled with tears at once.

"You say she stole it," I said. "Prove it, or that slap is a receipt for slander."

"Perry!" Tiffany screamed.

She caught my wrist and dug her nails into the skin.

"You hit him? You hit Trent over a blind stranger? Do you think I'll let that go?"

Her nails drew blood.

I tried to pull free, but I did not get the chance.

A small hand shot out of the white silk sleeve and closed on Tiffany's wrist.

Cosima lifted Tiffany's arm away from me and flung it aside with a sharp snap of her wrist.

Tiffany lost her footing and crashed into Trent's chest.

For a second, nobody in the shop moved.

I stared at Cosima, and she only stood there with her face turned somewhere past my shoulder.

"How dare you touch me?" Tiffany whispered.

She was white with fury.

Trent righted her, and he pointed at Cosima with a shaking hand.

"You vicious little street rat," he said. "A beggar who can't even see, and you put your hands on Tiffany?"

He turned on me.

"This is your fault, Perry. Both of you will rot for this. I'm calling the police, and neither of you leaves."

He pulled out his phone and began dialing.

The manager of the store, a thin man in a gray suit with his name pinned to his lapel, came hurrying across the marble with two guards behind him.

"What's all this noise?" he said. "This is a respectable shop."

Trent lowered the phone, and his face turned smug.

"Sir, you should know this boutique belongs to the Kingsford Group," he said. "Tiffany's family does business with them, and they don't tolerate trouble. This girl stole my ring and attacked my fiancee."

He pointed at her.

"There. That one. Have her taken out and arrested."

The manager followed Trent's finger.

He looked at the woman in the white gown, and the guards stopped behind him.

His eyes widened, and his whole body went rigid.

Every drop of color left his face.

"Be quiet," he said to Trent, in a voice that cracked. "Be quiet this instant."

"Excuse me?" Trent said.

The manager did not hear him.

He took one step toward Cosima and then two, and he bent at the waist in a deep, unsteady bow.

"Miss Kingsford," he said. "I am so sorry. We have been looking for you since Monday."

I felt my own heartbeat in my ears.

Behind me, Tiffany said, very faintly, "What did he call her?"

The manager straightened, and he turned on Trent, shaking with anger.

"How dare you," he said, "speak to Miss Kingsford like that?"

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend