Chapter 3

"Sabina Farley! Antonia called you already—why aren't you back yet? Who do you think you are? Do we have to come drag you here ourselves?"

On the other end of the line, my father was in full blustering-patriarch mode.

I pursed my lips and didn't bother arguing.

Antonia had clearly gone crying to him about me again.

His stern-father act, all that weight he was throwing around, didn't scare me in the slightest.

I'd knocked around long enough to know this type. Loud on the outside, hollow on the inside—I'd seen plenty.

Handling them is simple. The first time one bares his teeth, you crack him hard across that mangy mouth. After that, he'll flinch and cover it the second he sees you coming.

I said flatly,

"Enough. Save the impotent roaring. This is all about the precious Farley face, isn't it?"

"We'll settle it face to face. Sit tight and wait for me."

The calm reply threw him. He froze, then his voice climbed, red-faced.

"Sabina Farley! Have you lost your mind? How dare you talk to me like—"

I hung up. I had no patience left for his shouting.

I didn't call in my crew. I just drove myself over to the Farley mansion.

Inside, my father sat sprawled across the couch, chest heaving. Antonia and my mother stood off to the side, tense, terrified of setting him off.

How impressive. The lord of the house, in all his glory.

"You still have the nerve to show your face? If you hadn't pulled that filthy stunt, the Heads never would have called off the engagement!"

"The market opened today, and Farley Group stock dropped two points! I know you've got some little business of your own out there. This loss—you're covering it!"

The moment I stepped in, he laid into me, cold.

【Pfft…】

I actually laughed. "Are you all right? Stocks go up and down—that's the market. What does any of it have to do with me?"

Before he could answer, Antonia jumped in.

"How does it not? With the Head marriage on, Finance said the stock would climb at least ten percent!"

"If it weren't for you, would the group's stock have fallen instead of risen? You have to answer for this loss!"

I looked at Antonia, calm.

"Oh, so you've picked up finance now? Did that security-guard father of yours teach you?"

Her face went white in an instant.

"What security-guard father? I only have one father! Don't you slander me!"

My father's brow furrowed.

"Enough! Not a scrap of manners. You walk in the door and start fighting with your sister."

"We'll set that aside for now. Right now, you're coming with me to the Heads to apologize. Even with no proper standing, they have to take you in. We have to undo the damage this broken engagement has done to the group!"

I meant to lay it all out right there, but the three of them were hopeless. Wasting my breath on them would get me nowhere. Better to reach the Heads and settle the whole mess at once, in front of everyone.

So I didn't argue. I just nodded, as good as agreeing.

Seeing me give in, my mother brightened and came over to coax me.

"Sabina, that's my sensible girl. Don't worry—you've got decent looks, and the Head boy likes your type. Otherwise he never would have agreed to the match in the first place."

"If you're willing to go without a title, I'm sure the Head boy will take you in."

I flung her hand off with open disgust.

What kind of freak show was this family.

Pushing your own flesh-and-blood daughter to be some man's mistress?

How was that any different from shoving me into a fire?

I choked down my nausea and followed the three of them to the Head estate.

"Mr. Head, aren't your parents home?" My father swept the room with his eyes when we walked in, then turned to Victor Head, seated on the couch.

Victor lifted his eyelids, gave my father a glance, then started looking me up and down without a shred of restraint, his tone dripping with contempt.

"It's just taking on a mistress. You think I need my parents for that?"

"She's my type. As long as your daughter serves me well, I'll play along and let a few street shots of us get out. I just won't confirm it, won't deny it—that works, doesn't it?"

At that, my father lit up, not the least bit stung by the insult in Victor's words.

"Really, Mr. Head? That's wonderful! For you to take her in despite everything—that's more luck than she's earned in several lifetimes."

Victor ate up the flattery, smiling.

"I'm an open-minded man. It's just a mistress. No need for anyone to feel guilty about it."

Then the smile dropped. He paused.

"But I have one condition."

My father nodded eagerly, fawning.

"Name it, Mr. Head. As long as we can manage it, forget one condition—we'll grant ten."

Victor pulled that naked stare off me and said, flat,

"Just one condition. She goes for a full medical exam. I've already arranged it at the screening center under the group—it's closed to the public today."

"She's going to be my woman, after all. Wouldn't want her going out and embarrassing me."