Chapter 1
I was carrying a tray of red wine through a Dallas charity gala when someone bumped my elbow, and an entire glass spilled across a woman’s white designer dress.
Before I could even apologize, she slapped me so hard the room went silent.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, holding my burning cheek.
The woman stared at the stain like I had destroyed her life.
“Do you have any idea how much this dress costs?”
People nearby turned to watch.
“My name is Emily,” I said. “Please let me get you a towel.”
“I don’t want a towel.”
She stepped closer.
“I want five thousand dollars.”
My stomach dropped.
I was working double shifts just to keep my apartment and help pay my younger brother’s medical bills.
“I don’t have that kind of money.”
She laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
A few guests looked uncomfortable, but nobody stepped in.
My manager hurried over, and instead of defending me, he whispered, “Just apologize, Emily.”
“I am apologizing.”
The woman crossed her arms.
“Then prove you mean it.”
She pointed at the floor.
“Kneel.”
I thought I had misunderstood her.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
My eyes filled with tears as my manager avoided looking at me.
I slowly went down on my knees because I was terrified of losing the only job keeping my family afloat.
The woman smiled.
Then she picked up a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and sauce from a nearby table.
She turned it upside down directly in front of me.
Food splattered across the marble floor.
“If you eat every bite off that floor,” she said, “I’ll forget the five thousand dollars.”
Someone gasped.
I looked around, hoping just one person would tell her to stop.
Nobody did.
My hands were shaking when I reached toward the food.
Then a man’s voice thundered from behind the crowd.
“Don’t touch that.”
Everyone turned.
An older man in a black tuxedo was staring at the small silver necklace hanging from my neck.
His face had gone completely white.
He walked toward me and whispered, “Where did you get that necklace?”
“My mother gave it to me before she died.”
May you like
His eyes filled with tears.
Then he looked at the woman who had slapped me and said, “Do you have any idea who you just forced onto her knees?”
