Marrying The Protector: My Second Chance

Elena POV

I didn't go to the clinic.

Jackson called me that morning, his tone leaving no room for argument. He needed me to attend the grand charity gala for the Medina Foundation.

"Appearances, El," he had said, his voice smooth and detached. "It's important."

So I went.

I wore the red dress he hated because it was "too bold." I put on heels that were sharp enough to kill a man.

The ballroom was suffocating. It was a kaleidoscope of crystal chandeliers, champagne towers, and a sea of fake smiles. Jackson had his hand on the small of my back, playing the role of the devoted husband for the cameras flashing around us.

"You look beautiful," he murmured, handing me a velvet box.

I opened it. A diamond necklace sat nestled inside. Heavy, gaudy, and completely not my style.

"It's lovely," I lied.

"Put it on," he commanded gently.

I let him clasp the cold metal around my neck. It felt heavy against my skin. Like a collar.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted near the entrance. A child's voice pierced through the low, polite hum of conversation.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

The crowd parted like the Red Sea. A little boy, maybe three years old, was running toward us. Joey.

And behind him, looking frantic but perfectly dressed in shimmering gold, was Candida.

"Joey, no!" she called out, but she didn't run fast enough to stop him. She didn't really try.

Joey crashed into Jackson's legs. "Daddy! Mommy said you were coming home with us tonight!"

The silence in the room was instant and absolute.

Jackson froze. His hand dropped from my waist as if I had suddenly caught fire. He looked down at the boy, then up at Candida, and then, for a fleeting second, at me.

Panic. Pure, unadulterated panic in his eyes.

"Joey," Jackson said, his voice tight. He knelt down, instinctively pulling the boy into his arms.

The whispers started. A tidal wave of gossip swelling around us. Is that his son? Who is the mother? What about Elena?

I felt the blood drain from my face. The humiliation was a physical blow, a punch to the gut. Hundreds of eyes were boring into me, dissecting my reaction, pitying the foolish wife.

I stepped back, my heel catching on the plush carpet.

Candida reached them. She looked at me, and her eyes weren't apologetic. They were triumphant.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "He just misses his father so much."

She reached out, ostensibly to take Joey, but her hand brushed against the diamond necklace Jackson had just put on me.

"Oh!" she gasped.

She yanked. Hard.

The clasp snapped. The necklace fell to the floor with a heavy clatter.

"Joey, pick that up for Daddy," she said sweetly.

It was a power move. She was claiming ownership. Of the child, of the man, of the jewelry.

Rage, hot and blinding, exploded in my chest.

"Don't touch it," I snapped.

I lunged for the necklace. Not because I wanted it, but because I wouldn't let her take one more thing from me.

Candida screamed, a fake, dramatic sound that echoed off the walls.

Jackson moved. He didn't reach for me. He shoved me.

"Elena, stop it! You're scaring him!"

He pushed me hard. Too hard.

I lost my balance. I fell backward, crashing into a banquet table.

Glass exploded. China shattered.

I hit the floor hard. A sharp pain shot through my knee, and I felt warm blood trickling down my arm where a shard of glass had sliced me.

I lay there, stunned, amidst the broken glass and spilled champagne.

Jackson didn't offer me a hand. He stood over me, holding Joey and shielding Candida with his body. He looked at me with disgust.

"Security!" he barked. "Get her out of here. She's drunk."

Drunk. He was rewriting the narrative in real-time.

Two burly guards grabbed my arms and hauled me up. I didn't fight. I just stared at Jackson.

He turned his back on me. He put his arm around Candida and walked her away from the scene.

Candida glanced back over her shoulder. She smiled.

The crowd parted for the guards as they dragged me toward the exit. The whispers grew louder. She's crazy. Poor Jackson. Did you see her attack that child?

I saw the necklace lying on the floor where it had fallen. Broken. Abandoned. Just like me.

But as the cool night air hit my face outside the hotel, something inside me snapped back into place. The grief was gone. The shock was gone.

I looked down at my bleeding arm.

"Jackson," I whispered into the dark. "You owe me. And I'm going to collect."