Chapter 5

Scarlett POV:

"Sold! To the lady who lit the sky!" the auctioneer boomed, his gavel cracking against the podium. A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. I had won. The momentary triumph felt hollow, but it was better than the crushing humiliation.

I walked to the payment counter, my head held high, and slid my unlimited black card across the polished wood. The cashier swiped it. And then swiped it again.

A polite, apologetic smile formed on her face. "I'm so sorry, Ms. O'Connell. The card has been declined."

"That's impossible," I said, my voice tight. "Try it again."

She did. The result was the same. Panic began to claw at my throat. Wyatt stepped forward, pulling out his own card. "Here, let me."

His card was declined, too.

The whispers in the room grew louder, turning from curiosity to open mockery. The O'Connell heiress couldn't pay her bills. The Golden Thorn was broke. My face burned with shame.

Then, a shadow fell over me. Jax stepped up to the counter, his expression unreadable. He handed his own card to the cashier. It went through without a problem.

He took the velvet box containing "The Lone Star's Tear" and walked not to me, but to Daisy-Mae. In front of the entire Texas elite, he opened the box, lifted the heavy turquoise necklace, and fastened it around her neck.

She beamed, touching the stones reverently. "Oh, Jax, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

I was no longer just a woman who couldn't pay. I was a joke. A laughingstock who was publicly rejected for her own adopted sister.

Wyatt leaned in close, his voice a furious whisper in my ear. "It was him, Scarlett. I saw him on his laptop just before the bidding started. He's a hacker. He had to have frozen our accounts."

The final piece clicked into place. This wasn't just him defending Daisy-Mae. This was a calculated, deliberate act of war designed to destroy me in the most public way possible. The world tilted, and I had to grip the counter to keep from falling.

For days, I locked myself in my room, the shame too heavy to bear. Wyatt knocked, but I didn't answer. I didn't want to see anyone.

Through the thin walls, I could hear the other cowboys in the living room. Their voices were laced with annoyance.

"Is she ever coming out?" Colt complained. "Someone needs to go up there and deal with her."

"It's not my problem," another voice grumbled. "Jax is the one who bought the damn necklace."

Then, I heard his voice, low and commanding, cutting through the others. "She's my responsibility. I'll handle my woman."

Footsteps echoed on the grand staircase, stopping outside my door. I held my breath, listening to the silence.

Then came a soft, metallic click. He had picked the lock. The door swung open, revealing his tall frame silhouetted against the hallway light.