Jane nodded, but something fierce still simmered in her eyes. "I won't go looking for trouble. But I won't be afraid of him either."
That part, at least, she meant.
No matter how tangled the consequences might become, for that one moment earlier in the day, she had felt powerful.
Not as someone's wife, not as a pawn in political circles—but as a woman standing up for herself, and for others too afraid to speak.
She didn't regret it.
In fact, there was a part of her that was proud.
She had seen the flicker of surprise in Ross's eyes, the stunned silence that followed the crack of her palm across his smug face.
For a moment, she had pierced the illusion of invincibility that surrounded him like armor.
But what Jane couldn't know—what no one could've predicted—was how that single act would ripple through her life.
Choices have consequences.
And standing up to Ross Oakley wasn't something the world—or Ross himself—would easily forget.
