na's

door and effortlessly hoi

ree Penningtons look small and pathetic. The rich scen

ke a fish, but no sound is coming out. Her face i

e face slack with shock. The m

n a mixture of fury and a grudging, almost imperceptible,

ure. The truck is absurdly out of place next to their sleek, black Cadillac Escalade-the vehic

is?" Mrs. Penningto

the dowry you were so quick to dismiss. My name i

ou for reminding me to be independent. I was

I've never seen before. "You... y

sweetly. "My father's lawyers

rs to life. It's not a sound; it's a physical concussion. It shakes the

seems to shrink in the t

t. They flinch back, raising their hands to shield their eyes. I am literal

a showing their stunned faces in perfect cla

across the manicured lawn of the clubhouse, a final act of defiance. But

ssive tires crunching satisfyingly on the gravel. I stop

face grim. "This i

ble. "It's just beginning. Have my things packed by morning

r, and the truck leaps forward, leaving them beh

ngton screaming, her body shaking with

and empty, watching me drive

fe by the arm, and barks an order at Brown. "Get in the oth

omforting roar around me, the adrenaline begins to fa

gly, gloriously out. But I know t