No More Forgiveness Tokens

Through the shock, I caught Maggie shooting me a weird little smile.

"Bianca! Didn't you hear Dave?"

She walked toward me while I just stood there, frozen. Then suddenly, she kicked the back of my knee.

My balance snapped instantly. The wine flew out of my hand and splashed straight across Jared's face.

A second later, I hit the floor hard, crashing into broken glass. Sharp pain ripped across my arm as several cuts split my skin open.

My eyes locked on the woman lying on the floor beside me—her face pale and twisted.

Then Maggie's shrill voice cut through the room.

"Bianca, if you didn't want to offer Jared a drink, you could've just said no. You didn't have to act like a psycho on purpose just to piss him off. Is this how Dave's wife behaves? Or are you just trying to humiliate him in public?"

Jared froze.

Then realization hit him. His eyes went wide as he stared at me.

"W-Wait... you're Dave's wife?"

I didn't answer.

I just sat there on the floor, barely able to breathe under the crushing pain in my body and chest.

Jared reached for me, but Dave grabbed him first.

Dave glanced at the blood running down my face, his expression turning cold fast. Then he looked at Jared through gritted teeth.

"Get out."

Jared instantly backed down. Guess even he knew when to stop acting like trash.

He swallowed whatever attitude he had left and rushed out. Before leaving, he muttered, "Dave, what the hell is wrong with you? If I knew she was your wife, I never would've touched her."

The second Jared disappeared, I forced myself up.

Then someone grabbed my arm again.

"Bianca, you got what you wanted now, right? Did that time on the island teach you nothing? All you had to do was hand him a drink and this would've been over. Why did you have to pull that psycho stunt? You knew I was trying to shut this down. Can't you read the damn room for once?"

I looked at the furious man in front of me, my eyes burning red.

For the first time, I didn't hold back.

"Dave Tarrett, I'm your wife. If you'd just told them who I was, this would've ended the exact same way."

The meaning couldn't have been clearer.

He stayed quiet because protecting Maggie's ego mattered more than protecting me while they humiliated me like some party prop.

Dave got called out instantly.

A flicker of guilt finally crossed his face.

Maggie immediately tried to defend him, but Dave frowned and cut her off.

"That's enough. Shut up and wait in the car."

The second her footsteps faded away, he let out a tired sigh.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I still need to explain something. I honestly didn't know what that egg challenge meant. If I had, I never would've agreed to it. And Maggie..." He paused. "I hope you can understand. She just got back and saw that I was mar—"

He stopped himself fast, but I already got it.

Maggie saw he was married, got jealous, and decided to take it out on me.

And now he wanted me to forgive her for it. Of course he did.

Our eyes met.

Dave must've seen the sarcasm in mine because he sighed again.

"Fine. You're hurt, so I'll have the driver take you to the hospital. Maggie's emotional right now, so I need to go check on her. We'll talk when I get back."

Without waiting for an answer, he added,

"Even if you didn't finish those two dares, I'll still count them as forgiveness tokens."

Then he just walked away.

I watched his back disappear while blood kept running down my forehead.

And suddenly, I started laughing.

Because none of this mattered anymore.

Just two more times.

Once I paid back what I owed him, I was leaving.

And after that, he'd never get the chance to hurt me again.