"But your mother has been with my household for twenty years. I know what kind of person she is."
"I will not allow a woman who tried to destroy my daughter's marriage and lies with every breath to go on living."
He raised his hand, and the bodyguards moved to shove me into the dog cage.
My gaze caught Effie beside him—the relief on her face plain as day—and something locked into place. I lunged and grabbed the hem of Eric's trousers.
"Mr. Walker, I know who's been sleeping with your son-in-law!"
"It's her!"
Every head in the room turned to follow where my finger was pointing.
When they saw I was pointing at Effie, they all looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
Even Effie herself laughed in disbelief at the accusation.
"Juliana, do you hear yourself?"
"I'm Samuel's wife! You're saying I committed adultery with my own husband? How does that even work?"
Eric stared down at me, eyes full of disgust.
"If I'd known you were such a stupid fraud, I would've had Brutus rip you apart before you ever opened your mouth."
"Drag her to the private beast arena. Tell the fireworks crew the show's cancelled—tonight I'm inviting my guests to watch a woman fight wild animals instead."
Eric's voice didn't waver. The bodyguards seized me and hauled me toward the private beast arena.
I thrashed and screamed explanations, but someone shoved a cloth into my mouth to shut me up.
Just as I was about to be dragged out of the banquet hall, a business card slipped from my jacket pocket and hit the marble with a sharp crack.
One of the bodyguards looked down. His face went white. Hands shaking, he picked it up and carried it straight to Eric.
I straightened my clothes and faced him.
"I'm the chief securities analyst at Oceanic International."
"I came tonight to assess whether the Walker family qualifies for Oceanic International's first domestic investment allocation."
"Ha— haha!" Before I could finish, Samuel doubled over, laughing so hard tears ran down his face.
He clutched his stomach and pointed at me.
"Juliana, your cons are garbage, but I'll give you this—you've got nerve."
"First you're some elite graduate back from overseas, now you're Oceanic International's chief securities analyst."
"Do you even know what those four words are worth?"
"The biggest financial firm on the planet. A janitor there makes more in a month than you earn in a year."