She Put Cockroaches in My Bath,So I Fed Her a Whole Box

To get under my skin, my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart cut my swimsuit to shreds.

I grabbed a pair of scissors and turned what was left into a bikini. The curves it showed off drew envious stares from everyone around.

She was so furious she could barely see straight, and she started hunting for a second chance to humiliate me.

That chance came on the night of the wedding. I was soaking in the bathtub when she released a swarm of filthy cockroaches that came pouring over the rim.

The color drained from my face. I tried to stand, tried to reach my bathrobe, but Lucinda burst through the door with a crowd of people behind her.

Ha! Marcella Delgado, you've finally got nowhere to run!

Pay up, boys. The cockroaches got to her.

They transferred money on their phones without looking away, their eyes crawling over my body with the kind of sleazy, repulsive hunger that made my stomach turn.

Ooh, I think I can see a little something.

Damn! Get those roaches in the tub already so she has to stand up. I wanna see the whole show.

My chest heaved with rage.

Stuart! Where are you? Get in here and throw them out!

I'm terrified of cockroaches!!

He was standing right outside the door. He didn't care.

What are you screaming about? You love showing off your body in front of everyone, don't you? So go ahead. Show them.

They're just cockroaches. You grew up dirt poor. What's there to be squeamish about?

He was right. They were just cockroaches.

So I picked up my phoneRound up every cockroach in the city. Send a truckload to me. I'm going to make that cheating pair swallow every last one.

Ha Haha! What did she just say?

Cheating pair? Make us eat cockroaches? Is she talking about me and Stuart?

Lucinda Harding turned to Stuart with a look of wide-eyed innocence, and his face darkened instantly.

Marcella Delgado, what makes you think you can force us to eat cockroaches?

Citywide search, she says. Like she thinks she's some kind of queen.

Right?

Someone chimed in, but those disgusting eyes never left my chest.

I pressed my arms tighter against myself, sinking as low into the foam as I could.

But the foam wouldn't last. It was already thinning, dissolving at the edges.

And the moment it was gone, the cockroaches would crawl up and into the tub.

The men crowded just outside the bathroom, all of them waiting to watch me break.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms, my whole body trembling as I stared at Stuart Gilbert.

Every tremor shook loose a little more of the foam clinging to my skin.

I didn't dare move again after that, but the tears came anyway.

Lucinda walked over to Stuart's side and draped her hand across his shoulder.

Stuart, you're not allowed to rescue her. Promise me.

I've got a ten-million-dollar bet going with Feng.

I bet you love me the most, and you won't lift a finger for Marcella for at least half an hour.

He bet against me. He thinks you'll crack and save her in the end.

The moment she finished, Lucinda grabbed Stuart's hand and pouted up at him, clinging, cooing.

I still held on to one last shred of hope. I thought he would refuse her. I thought this second, monstrous demand would be too much even for him.

Instead, he raised his hand and flicked the tip of Lucinda's nose without a moment's hesitation.

You. You've been this much trouble since we were kids. Keep it up and nobody's going to marry you.

So that's a yes!

Yay, Stuart! I knew you loved me the most. Feng, pay up.

The men erupted.

Pay her! If Feng doesn't, I'll cover it myself.

Damn, Stuart treats Lucinda way better than his own girl. I need to stick closer to Lucinda from now on.

Lucinda lifted her chin, triumph and contempt radiating from every pore as she looked down at me.

I stared at Stuart in disbelief. He was smoothing a strand of loose hair behind Lucinda's ear.

Don't look at me like that. Lucinda is practically my little sister. You just married into the Gilbert family. As the elder, you should be spoiling her.

It's just a bet. It's not like you're losing a limb. Besides, you're Mrs. Gilbert now.

Someone couldn't hold it in any longerStuart, you still haven't told her.

Your marriage certificate with Marcella is fake.

I whipped my head toward Stuart. He didn't even flinch, just let out a sigh.

Stuart, what does hemean by that?

My voice came out shaking, barely holding together. The thing I feared most was that the three years I'd given him would end in nothing but a lie.

Exactly what it sounds like.

He was slouched back, his tone dripping with contempt.

Marcella, you're a woman from the countryside. I don't care how talented you are at your job. Your background will never be good enough for me.

The Gilberts are old money. You were never in my league. But I didn't want to hurt your feelings, so I kept you around for a while. A pretty little bird in a gilded cage.

One of his buddies pointed at LucindaHis real wife is right here! The Gilberts and the Hardings are about to merge families. That's why Stuart let her mess with you!

My mind went blank. I'd guessed the beginning of this story, but I never saw the ending coming.

It meant that Stuart had been playing me the entire time.

He used me to win his fight for legitimacy, to secure his seat as the Gilbert heir, and now that he had it, he was throwing me away.

I screamed at himIs that true?

The contempt smeared across his face cut into me like glass.

Yes.

Whatever hope I had left for him shattered in that single syllable.

I lowered my head and laughed, a bitter, broken sound. I was laughing at how deep his deception ran, and laughing at myself for being stupid enough to believe a man like him.

I reached for my phone to call my people, to tell them to get here faster, but Lucinda lunged in and snatched it out of my hand.

Nuh-uh, you don't get to call for help until the half hour is up!

Come on, homewrecker. I'm being generous here.

Look, I'm letting you be Stuart's little side piece for now. The least you can do is return the favor.

Girls like you always end up passed around sooner or later anyway!

If I could have gotten a robe on, I would have stood up and ripped her mouth apart.

When she saw how dark my expression was, she only smiled wider, sweet as poison.

Oh please, a mistress with an attitude?

Go ahead, get angrier! The madder you get, the faster those bubbles disappear.

The boys are dying to see what's underneath.

The room erupted in laughter.

And I could do nothing. I clenched my fists and pressed my body tighter into the water, curling in on myself.

Two more cockroaches dropped into the tub. I screamed before I could stop myself, and the men crowding around me only got more excited.

My voice was raw when I begged Stuart one last timeStuart, I'm asking you for the last time. Make them leave. Bring me a robe.

Because I was terrified of cockroaches. He knew. He knew they were the one thing in this world I couldn't bear.

When I was a child, the power struggle within my family had been savage.

My stepmother, afraid I'd come out on top, locked me in a room crawling with cockroaches and left me there to die.

There had been bones in that room. The stench of rot. The memory was seared into me forever.

I had told Stuart that secret once, trusted him with it. And he had handed my weakness straight to Lucinda.

He ignored my plea. He stood there and watched while Lucinda kept tormenting me.

What are you so upset about? Being my mistress is more than a girl like you deserves. And now you can't even sacrifice a little?

Holy shit, we can almost see!

The men erupted into a frenzy. My eyes burned red, blazing with something no longer human.

Marcella, don't you worry!

When Stuart gets bored of you, come find me. I'll make sure you're well taken care of.

Get lost, don't you already have a wife at home?

Marcella, you should come to me instead. I'm single. If you could handle Stuart, I'm sure your bedroom skills can't be half bad.

Heh, let me get a taste too.

In that moment, I was nothing more than an object on display, picked over by strangers. Powerless and seething with hatred.

Stuart Gilbert. Lucinda Harding. Remember what you did here today.

Because when the time comes, I will repay you tenfold.

I will bring your precious families to ruin, and it will be because of you.

The room erupted in sneering laughter the second the words left my mouth.

You? Some country girl? What could you possibly do to bankrupt our families?

Lucinda charged at me while I couldn't move and slapped me across the face.

Her nails dragged across my skin on purpose, tearing it open. My cheek burned.

You slut. The thing I hate most is this face of yours, always luring men in.

And let me tell you something else!

After the bet's settled, I'm going to have them catch those cockroaches and shove them down your throat.

Disgusting women deserve disgusting food, don't you think?

Heh, and once you've had your fill, the boys can have their fun with you.

I met her gloating stare with ice-cold eyesCareful. When the time comes, it might be you choking on cockroaches. And you they're passing around.

You bitch! She struck my other cheek. By now, the foam in the tub had dissolved a little more.

Lucinda's smile turned sly. The men behind her grew even more restless.

Damn, my ten million!

If I'd known Stuart loved Lucinda that much, I never would've taken that goddamn bet.

Marcella, you useless piece of trash. You cost me money. I'm going first to get my money's worth.

Stuart stood there with a cigarette pinched between his fingers, a mocking curl at the corner of his lips.

I haven't gotten bored of her yet and you're already talking like that?

Hahaha, then I'll ask Lucinda. You spoil her rotten. No way you can resist when she pouts.

Right, Lucinda?

Lucinda, eager to twist the knife deeper, turned to Stuart with a coy smile.

Stuart, just do this for me, won't you?

Today's wedding was fake, sure, but I'm still a little upset about it.

End things with Marcella. Right here, right now.

Fine, fine. Whatever you want.

Did these two really believe that because they had powerful families behind them, they could control other people's fates?

That they could trample someone's dignity whenever and wherever they pleased?

My stepmother's family had taught me to be ruthless and decisive. But Stuart and Lucinda were teaching me something far worse: how to take revenge without mercy.

Marcella, I did love you once. But your background only ever qualified you for this much.

So hating me is pointless. If you want to hate someone, hate the family you were born into.

Someone stomped a cockroach flat, picked up the carcass, and flung it at my face.

They wanted to provoke me. Every time I flinched, every time I reacted, the foam shrank a little more.

My eyes were bloodshot as I stared at every single person who had humiliated me, burning each face into my memory.

Your arrogance will cost you.

Ha! If you were someone with real power, maybe. But you? You're different.

What are you gonna do, beat me with your little fists in bed?

Hahaha!

Stuart's really something, huh? She stood by him from rock bottom all the way to the top, and this is what she gets!

So what? The Gilbert family isn't some nobody clan. You think they'd let a woman with zero background become the family matriarch?

Marcella, you're so naive.

With your looks and that little brain of yours, the best you could ever hope for in high society is being someone's dirty secret. You'll never be good enough for the real thing.

Whether I'm good enough isn't for a bunch of worthless trash like you to decide.

I'm warning you. Get out of this bathroom right now, or I will have every single one of you charged with sexual assault

Ha! Press charges against us??

Marcella, this is Stuart Gilbert's world. Everything here runs on his word.

Even the cops give him respect. You were with him, weren't you? You should know that.

I whipped around and glared at Stuart. He exhaled a stream of smoke, his eyes full of mockery.

Lucinda clapped her hands together with a laughCountry bumpkin through and through. Doesn't know the first thing about how our world works.

I curled my lip into a cold smileSo you so-called elites think your money and your connections give you the right to control people's lives? To trample someone's dignity whenever you feel like it?

Obviously. What else is power for?

Those words dragged me back to my stepmother and her family.

They thought they'd won, that they could destroy the lives of everyone in the legitimate bloodline however they pleased.

I told them the game wasn't over. That anyone could still turn the tables.

They didn't believe me. Not until I came at them with a bloodied knife, closing in step by step. Only then did they understand that even someone they'd ground into the dirt could rise up and take everything back.

The reason I chose Stuart was never the Gilbert family's meager influence. It was him.

Because he had been genuine with me once, and people who sit at the top for too long crave nothing more than something real.

Now, I finally understood one truth.

Those who rule are destined to be alone.

When I said nothing, meeting their insults with nothing but cold defiance, Lucinda's expression soured.

She produced another jar.

Seems like these bugs weren't enough to get a reaction out of you.

How about I give you something stronger?

One of the men's eyes lit up and he stepped forward eagerly.

Yeah, do it, do it!

Dump that on her and she'll be on her feet screaming in no time.

And I'll be right here with open arms, ready to catch her.

The moment the words left his mouth, his face flushed red, as if something below the belt had already responded.

The other men licked their lips, mouths dry, staring at me without blinking.

A piece like that, and Stuart's generous enough to let us have a turn. Damn, I've wanted to get my hands on her for a long time.

Marcella, listen up. Stuart doesn't want you anymore, but I do. Come with me.

Before he even finished, he was already rushing toward me.

His eyes were full of filth. He let out a leering grin and reached for my body.

I swung my fist straight into his faceGet away from me. Touch me again and I will kill you.

I was the one who ruled both sides of the law, and I'd been reduced to this, letting every bottom-feeding nobody crawl over me? Fury tore through me as I locked eyes with StuartYou're really going to let your boys pass me around? For her?

Sure. That's what brotherhood is, right? Share the good times, share the bad.

Hahaha, well said!

Then I won't be showing you any mercy either.

Marcella, quit the tough act. What are you going to do to us, exactly?

She'll sell herself, that's what! Probably already slept her way to some big shot!

The other men sneeredWhat big shot? We're the big shots around here.

Hahaha, before you go looking for some big shot, how about you give us a good time first.

The moment the words left her mouth, I lunged forward and snatched the jar from Lucinda's hands.

She pulled on gloves, popped the lid, and cockroaches spilled out like they'd been drugged into a frenzy.

My face went white. Bile surged up my throat.

How about it, Marcella? Tell me you'll be my plaything and I'll call them off. Stop looking at Stuart. He already said he doesn't want you.

You've got no way out of this.

The foam in the bathtub vanished all at once.

Every man in the room shoved forward, eyes wide, scrambling for a better look.

Lucinda raised her phone and aimed it straight at meThe show's about to start.

I curled my lips into a cold smileI told you. No matter the odds, even the lowest person alive can turn the tables and fight their way out.

The second the words left my mouth, I shut my eyes. I grabbed the towel and hurled a wall of water at the crowd.

Then I launched out of the tub, kicked the nearest man flat on his back, ripped the coat off him, and threw it over my shoulders.

Every move was seamless, so fast that even Stuart couldn't react.

The instant my feet touched the floor, a squad of men in black stormed through the door.

They stood behind me like reapers, awaiting my command.

I let out a low, cold laughI've already fought my way out. Now let's see if any of you can do the same.