Chapter 10 - The Unanswered Toast
Julian slowly extended his right arm, pointing one trembling, accusing finger directly at the glowing smartphone in his hand.
The high-definition freeze-frame of the red wineglass on the silver coaster shone like an open grave between them.
The reflection of the dark liquid flickered in the tears pooling inside Julian’s reddened, disbelieving eyes.
The gala in the distant ballroom had reached its crescendo; faint applause and clinking glasses filtered through the vents.
At any moment, the master of ceremonies would step to the podium and invite the Vance family to join the grand anniversary toast.
The poisoned glass was sitting on that banquet table right now, untouched, glittering under the crystal chandeliers.
Waiting for someone to raise it to their lips.
Julian stepped past Victoria, stopping three feet away from the trembling, disheveled matriarch.
His tall, broad-shouldered frame cast a towering, pitch-black shadow over Evelyn, pinning her against the broken molding.
The devastation on Julian’s face had solidified into a mask of pure, freezing arctic fury.
Evelyn looked up at him, her lips trembling, her silver hair clinging to her sweat-soaked forehead, completely defenseless.
"Julian... please," she whispered, a solitary tear cutting a path through her expensive cosmetic foundation.
"I did everything for this family... everything I ever did was to protect you..." Evelyn murmured in a broken, desperate gasp.
Julian did not raise his voice; when he spoke, his tone was so low, so deep, and so terrifyingly calm it stopped the air in the room.
"Who was that wine for, Mother?" Julian asked, his voice shaking with a fury that could tear the mansion to the ground.
Evelyn’s eyes widened with utter, horrifying realization, her mouth opening and closing without producing a single sound.
She looked past Julian’s shoulder toward the far banquet doors, where the celebration was moving inevitably toward the toast.
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The dark vintage sat waiting on the silver coaster, its target still walking among the laughing guests completely unaware of the lethal trap.
The silence stretched like a snapping wire as Julian’s gaze bored into Evelyn’s soul, waiting for the name of her victim.
