Chapter 2

In that moment, the icy water pierced straight through my bones like daggers.

I glared down at him, my eyes burning red. "You know I'm terrified of this!"

When I was eight, I was trapped in a collapsed warehouse.

Torrential rain poured outside as water rose past my knees, surrounding me with pitch-black darkness and splintered timber.

My mother gave her life to save me, pinned down by a collapsing support beam.

She pushed me out to safety, but she never made it out herself.

Ever since, I had suffered from severe claustrophobia, a terror of rushing water, and a dread of any dark night from which there was no escape.

All these years, I had never told another soul.

Only Julian knew.

Back when debt collectors trapped him in an underground garage during Montgomery Enterprises' crisis, he had locked himself inside a car all night to protect the project files.

When I sat beside him through his trauma therapy, he held my hand and promised, "Victoria, from now on, I'll shield you from all your fears."

And now, he stood below, letting my deepest trauma become a public circus.

Celeste chimed in with a sweet laugh.

"See? Julian said I'm just playing around."

"Victoria, don't be such a buzzkill."

She turned toward the guests below, raising her voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the bet is officially on!"

"If she cries and begs Julian to save her within thirty minutes, I lose."

"If she holds out without begging, I'll Venmo everyone ten thousand dollars!"

The crowd went wild.

"Miss Hayes is generous!"

"Put me down for her breaking! No way she lasts."

"A nobody from a small town really thought putting on a couture dress made her high society?"

"Is Julian actually going to marry her? I always thought she was just a placeholder."

My fingertips went numb.

Water streamed into my eyes, burning like acid.

I pounded on the glass with all my strength.

"Julian, I'm warning you one last time. Open this door!"

Julian finally glanced up at me.

There was no remorse in his eyes—only irritation at being challenged in public.

"Victoria, do you really have to make such a scene?"

"Celeste has been spoiled by all of us since childhood. Why make a fuss over her games?"

"Besides, aren't you the expert at crisis management? You can't even handle a little prank?"

I froze in place. Suddenly, my lips curved into a bitter, broken smile.

To him, the sheer terror of being locked in a freezing downpour was just a "little prank."

All the crises I had weathered for him over the past three years had ultimately become his justification to humiliate me.

Seeing me smile, Celeste’s expression flickered with annoyance.

She hated this look on my face.

She hated that even when brought to my knees in utter misery, I still refused to bow my head.

She clicked the remote in her hand.

The next second, the overhead sprinklers roared, doubling their output.

A deluge of ice-cold water slammed onto my head. My knees buckled, and I nearly hit the floor.

Gasps rose from the crowd below.

Not out of concern, but pure excitement.

"She's about to break!"

"Film it, get closer! This is going viral tomorrow!"

"Julian’s fiancée is stubborn, I'll give her that..."

Celeste leaned in close to the glass, her voice dropped to a whisper meant only for me.

"Drop the act, Victoria."

"I know you're terrified of places like this."

"Julian told me everything."