I grabbed the throat of the one who'd blindsided me and slammed his head into the table.
"You wanted to ruin me?"
I looked down at him. "You're not even close."
Slap.
A hand struck my face out of nowhere.
I stumbled two steps and caught myself on the back of a sofa.
Patrick stood there, brow furrowed.
"All I did was propose to Effie. What the hell is wrong with you?"
My parents came rushing out at the commotion.
My mother took one look at the men groaning on the floor and shoved me, furious.
"What do you think you're doing? Just because your sister got engaged to Patrick, you're going to destroy the party?"
"It's your grandfather's birthday! Can't you show some basic decency?"
The guests hadn't heard what those men said to me.
They frowned in my direction.
"You're twenty-five years old. Can you act like it? Patrick doesn't want you. Throwing punches and breaking things isn't going to change that."
Effie's eyes glistened with tears.
"Celeste, if you really can't handle this, here. Take the ring. Just please stop making things harder for us."
She actually started pulling the engagement ring off her finger.
Patrick grabbed her hand and stopped her.