Chapter 2 - The Skeleton in the ClosetThe wait was agonizing. Time didn’t move; it suffocated. Guests whispered, their eyes darting between me—the invisible maid—and the "King of the East Coast."
Ten minutes passed. Vanessa started pacing, her heels clicking like a countdown. "This is absurd! You’re taking the word of a peasant over your future wife? Do you know what my father will do when he hears about this?"
Alessandro leaned against a pillar, arms crossed. "Your father is currently trying to liquidate his offshore assets before the SEC freezes his accounts. He won't have time to worry about your drama, Vanessa."
The ballroom doors groaned open. The head of security, a man named Marcus, walked in. His face was a mask of indifference. In his hands, he carried a medium-sized box.
It had tiny, blue forget-me-not flowers printed on the cardboard.
Vanessa stopped breathing. I felt the air leave the room.
Marcus walked up to Alessandro and presented the box. Alessandro didn’t open it. He just looked at Vanessa, who was staring at the box as if it were a bomb.
"Explain," Alessandro commanded.
May you like
Vanessa’s facade shattered. She went from cold to hysterical in a millisecond. She lunged for the box, but Marcus held it high. "It’s not what you think! I love you! I did it for us! Everyone kept saying you needed an heir to secure the board’s vote! I was just... I was just buying us time!"
The room erupted. "Buying time?" The whispers turned into a roar. The empire’s foundation wasn't just shaking; it was collapsing.
