The Scar He Gave, The Queen I Became

Ice-cold water pooled around Cadence's bare feet on the Italian marble floor.Her ruined evening gown clung to her skin, and every breath she took tasted of chlorine and bile.Her teeth chattered, a violent rhythm of the panic clawing at her throat.

Franklin Mueller strode through the entryway, his bespoke suit bone-dry and immaculate.His gaze bypassed His wife Cadence entirely, the gray-blue of his eyes hard and unforgiving as they locked onto the security detail behind her.

Isabelle leaned heavily against a bodyguard as she crossed the threshold.She let out a weak, perfectly timed cough that shattered the dead silence of the penthouse.

Franklin shoved the bodyguard aside, his hands gripping Isabelle's shoulders with a fierce possessiveness Cadence had never known in three years of marriage.

Cadence stared at his hand resting on Isabelle's shoulder.Her heart gave a violent, painful spasm against her ribs.The desperate explanation burning on her tongue turned to ash.

Isabelle buried her face against Franklin's broad chest.

"Don't be mad at her, Franklin," Isabelle whispered, her voice trembling with manufactured tears. "I don't blame Cadence. I just... I slipped."

The lie was a lit match dropped into gasoline.

Franklin's head snapped up.His eyes locked onto Cadence, radiating a fury so oppressive it seemed to steal the air from the room.

"Your jealousy is a sickness," Franklin spat, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Pushing a woman who cannot swim into the deep end at a Hampton gala. You are out of your mind."

A flash of memory: the freezing Hudson, a rusted blade in her back, the suffocating dark as she dragged his unconscious body to the surface.

Cadence's hands shook, the severe water PTSD sending violent tremors down her spine."You don't know, actually I'm also afraid of water."

"Stop," Franklin barked, cutting off her movement."You already have a diving qualification certificate, how could you be afraid of water? Do not play the victim with me, Cadence. It makes me physically sick."

Hilary, Franklin's executive assistant, stepped forward with a thick, heated cashmere blanket.

Franklin snatched it and wrapped it tightly around Isabelle, completely ignoring his wife, whose lips had turned a bruised shade of purple.

Cadence watched the absurd, cruel theater playing out in front of her.A hollow, broken sound scraped its way up her throat.

It was a laugh. Cold, weak, and dripping with absolute mockery.The sound bounced off the high ceilings of the entryway.

The muscle in Franklin's jaw feathered.He took the laugh as a remorseless challenge, closing the distance between them in three long strides.

He towered over her, his shadow swallowing her shivering frame.

"If you ever lay a hand on Isabelle again," he said, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "I will initiate divorce proceedings before you can blink."

He leaned in closer. "And the prenup," he whispered, the words a final, twisting blade. "The second I sign those papers, your new-money Chase family loses all protection from my company."

Cadence's pupils dilated.Her chest tightened so hard she thought her