songs, I excused myself from my dance partner and took the opportunity to mingle with everyone. They were all very friendly and eager to meet the beautiful, young new landowners. As I talked with each of them, I didn’t dare tell the full extent of what I endured at the Valencia estate or the whole story of what my place was there. But I never missed the opportunity to mention that I knew how horribly they treated their employees.
Each time I mentioned it, no one seemed surprised. I suspected it had been a topic of gossip for a while, but now I could confirm it was true. And every time the people I talked to would shoot subtle looks of disapproval over to Leonardo. His cheeks turned bright red with anger, but I just smiled more.
The looks between me and Leonardo grew less subtle as the evening went on and he continued drinking himself silly. The short flashes turned to long murderous glares. The angrier and more depressed he looked, the happier I became.
Soon, we returned to dancing, and as I switched partners, I was surprised to see a familiar face cut in. Dario grabbed my hand and pulled me along the dance floor. He smiled back at me as if nothing bad had ever gone down between us. The last thing I wanted was to be twirling around with him, but pulling away would only cause a scene. Besides, the sight of us dancing with our fingers laced together seemed to enrage Leonardo even more, so I decided to tolerate it.
“Well, I see you’re doing quite well for yourself these days,” he smiled awkwardly as we continued dancing. “Considering that the last time I saw you, I was pulling you out of the barn and rushing you off onto the back of the horse cart.”
“Without a penny of the money I earned,” I scoffed resentfully.
“I can see that it’s paid back to you.”
I proudly tilted my chin into the air as our palms pressed together. “I don’t need it now. Keep it.”
His cheeks turned a little pink while he struggled to find the appropriate words, but I think we both knew there wasn’t much he could say to make up for how I had been treated.
“I wanted to apologize to you. It was unfair that you were accused of something you didn’t do and treated the way you were. I’ve worried about you ever since. I’m glad that you’re okay.”
I carried on with the spectacle of our dance, not saying a word. I wasn’t going to say all was forgiven, because it wasn’t. But the look on Leonardo’s face combined with Dario’s humbled stuttering was soothing my wounds quite a bit.
“Don’t you have anything you’d like to say to me?” He asked after a while.
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “A thank you, maybe? I did save you after all.”
With that, I jerked my hands away from his and answered sternly. “Oh, I should thank you for tossing me into a horse cart in the middle of the night and sending me off with a stranger!?”
He didn’t say it, but I could see he was obviously thinking - yes, I should thank him for that. I couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore and stormed off to find another drink. It was exhilarating to not have to worry about being polite or cordial to them anymore if I didn’t want to. I wasn’t their employee anymore. Now, we were equals, and I could treat them however I wanted to.
My spat with Dario sent me back into my quest of subtly talking trash about the Valencia cousins to the other landowners. I’d squeeze in whatever disdainful remarks I could here and there and feel giddy inside with how they looked over at Leonardo and the others like they had some kind of infectious disease. Elaina, Jada, and I were all young and beautiful and highly respected because of our affiliation with the Perez brothers. If the popular girls weren’t fond of the Valencias, everyone else was inclined to agree.
There were a number of handsome and eligible men at the event. Getting married off was the furthest thing from my mind given our newly gained independent wealth, but I noticed how Leonardo winced whenever he saw me flirting with them. So I made a big show out of it just to torture him.
I was talking to one particularly tall, rich, and charming man, laughing very loudly at something he said when Leo finally got