Chapter 1
The heavy silence inside the crystal-chandeliered ballroom felt suffocatingly dense.
Christian’s fingers locked around Phoebe’s emerald silk sleeve with a terrifying, vice-like grip.
"Have you lost your mind?" Christian whispered, his voice vibrating with a quiet, suppressed fury that silenced every guest within ten yards.
Phoebe tried to yank her arm away, her haughty expression briefly cracking into a flicker of genuine panic.
"Let go of me right now, Christian!" Phoebe hissed, her dark eyes flashing with unadulterated venom.
"We have three hundred elite guests watching us from the tables, and you are making a scene over a local cop!"
Christian didn't release her arm; instead, he stepped closer, his charcoal grey suit brushing against her expensive gown.
"That officer is a decorated mother who bled on your polished marble floor because of your arrogant cruelty," Christian answered coldly.
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Across the room, six-year-old Leo buried his face in his mother's khaki uniform jacket, his small shoulders shaking with quiet tears.
Officer Sarah slowly pushed herself up from the marble floor, ignoring the sharp pain radiating through her bruised jaw.
