Chapter 2 - THE SHADOW ON THE MARBLE
Silence crashed over the marble hallway like a heavy velvet curtain immediately following the young man's chilling command.
The slender metal cane trembled in the ruthless woman's grip, its polished surface catching the cold glint of the crystal chandelier.
"You dare interfere in my household, Julian?!" she spat out, her dark eyes flashing with unbridled fury against her pale skin.
Maria kept her arms locked tightly around the seven-year-old girl, her navy blue maid's dress rustling against the cold marble floor.
The little girl buried her face deeper into Maria’s lace apron, clutching her soft brown teddy bear as if it were her last lifeline.
Julian stepped forward with measured, lethal grace, his dark emerald green suit absorbing the warm ambient light of the hallway.
"This is not your household, Catherine," Julian stated coldly, his voice echoing off the high plaster walls.
Behind them, framed against the mahogany paneling, the American flag hung as a silent witness to the escalating family feud.
Catherine lowered the metal cane slightly, her breath coming in ragged, angry gasps as her burgundy silk top shifted.
"She broke my mother's antique porcelain tea set!" Catherine shrieked, pointing her slender finger at the trembling child.
"She is seven years old, Catherine," Julian repeated with razor-sharp precision, stopping mere inches from the cane.
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"And you are a thirty-five-year-old monster who uses violence to hide her own failures."
***
