Chapter 13 - Whispers in the Dark Wood
Before Salvatore could extract another syllable from the weeping blonde, Elena’s voice broke through the tension again.
"Dad... don't touch her... please come back..." Elena cried out, her voice raw and cracked from hours of screaming for help.
Salvatore immediately released Victoria, turning his back on his ruined fiancée without granting her another glance.
His priorities were absolute, his protective paternal instinct overriding even his thirst for immediate retribution.
He crossed the marble floor in three long strides, dropping to one knee once more before his daughter.
Maria was holding a clean linen napkin against Elena’s bruised knuckles, where dried blood marked her frantic fight against the oak lid.
The twenty-one-year-old heiress flinched as Salvatore gently gathered her cold, trembling hands into his own warm palms.
"Tell me, Elena," Salvatore urged gently, brushing a damp strand of chestnut hair from her hollow, pale cheek.
"Tell your father what you heard, and tell me what you felt before the darkness took you."
Elena swallowed hard, her chest hitching as she struggled to draw air into lungs that still felt starved of oxygen.
"I was in the gallery... admiring the snow through the bay windows before the party began," Elena whispered, her hazel eyes wide.
"Victoria came from behind me... she said she wanted to show me a special Christmas gift beneath the ballroom tree."
"I didn't trust her, Dad, I swear I didn't, but she grabbed my wrist and whispered those horrible words."
Elena paused, a fresh wave of tears spilling down her cheeks and dripping onto the pale blue satin of her lap.
"She said that you were ashamed of me... that you only kept me around out of obligation to my dead mother."
Salvatore flinched visibly, a sharp hiss of air escaping through his clenched teeth as if a blade had pierced his heart.
"That was a lie, Elena," Salvatore said, his voice breaking with fierce emotion. "You are my entire world, sweetheart."
Elena nodded feebly, her chin quivering as she pressed on with her horrifying recollection.
"I tried to pull away from her, but someone else grabbed me from behind... someone wearing heavy leather gloves."
"A hand clamped over my mouth before I could scream, smelling of expensive tobacco and cedarwood cologne."
A collective shudder moved through the room as several men in the gathering subtly adjusted their collars.
"They dragged me toward the service alcove beside the tree before the catering staff arrived," Elena continued, gasping for breath.
"Victoria held my legs while the other person lifted my torso and shoved me backward into the wooden chest."
"I fought with everything I had, Dad, I kicked and scratched, but the second person was too strong, too heavy."
"When I tried to push the lid open, both of them threw their weight down on top of the wood."
"I heard Victoria laughing, but the other person never said a word... they just kept breathing heavily above the latch."
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"And then... right before the brass lock slammed shut... I heard the distinct click of a golden lighter."
Salvatore’s eyes snapped wide, his mind racing through the intimate habits of every associate standing in the room.
