No one breathed. No one spoke.
Only Davina, holding out a tissue with a smile:
"It's not worth getting this upset over. Send her to me for some etiquette training. I'll give you back a whole new woman in six months."
That day, my tears weren't even dry before I was put on a plane.
Behind me, Oliver's friends and their weightless laughter:
"That woman's been spoiled completely out of control. Not an ounce of manners."
"You know what she gave Young Mr. Vance for his birthday? Guess."
"A little cake she made herself. Tacky, cheap-looking, and an embarrassment to the entire Vance family name."
He paused. "Honestly, step it up. Who knows how long she'll hold his interest."
"She's being groomed as the future lady of the house, sure, but if she can't get with the program, that engagement is done sooner or later."
That night, I was held down in a bathtub filled with frosting for three full hours.
They watched me thrash and laughed, ignoring the contact allergy tearing my body apart.
My vision kept going black, my hands swelling, every breath harder than the last.
With the last scrap of strength in me, I keyed in the number I knew by heart.