Chapter 6 - THE FRACTURE
“**Victoria.**”
The name was spoken quietly, but it cut through the room like a gunshot. The crowd parted instantly. Nathaniel stepped forward, his face a mask of absolute, terrifying calm. His eyes moved from the destroyed gifts on the floor, to Elena’s shaking form, to the tears spilling down Lily’s cheeks, and finally, to the woman wearing his two-million-dollar diamond on her finger.
“Nathaniel, darling,” Victoria said, suddenly attempting a breezy smile. Her confidence faltered under his lethal stare. “The child was wandering. I was just trying to clear the floor—”
“You tore a three-year-old’s birthday gifts apart,” Nathaniel said, his voice dropping to a dangerous octave. “In front of my guests. In my home.”
“They are staff, Nathaniel!” Victoria hissed, the mask slipping as her panic turned to defensive rage. “They are nobodies! She’s been parading this brat around for weeks, trying to sink her claws into your wallet, and you’re too blind by your pathetic grief to see it!”
The entire ballroom inhaled collectively. Mentioning his grief—the death of his wife and child—was the ultimate taboo.
Nathaniel didn’t yell. He didn’t raise his hands. He simply walked over to Elena and Lily. Slowly, he knelt on the hard marble floor in his bespoke tuxedo. He picked up the ruined book, his jaw tight, and then he looked at Lily.
“I am so sorry, Lily,” Nathaniel whispered. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Nobody will ever do this to you again.”
He stood up, placing himself directly between Elena and Victoria.
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“You are right about one thing, Victoria,” Nathaniel said, his voice carrying to every corner of the dead-silent room. “You are not blind. You have always seen exactly what you wanted. Which brings me to my gift.”
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