Chapter 2 - Daniel Sits Up and Tells Vanessa to Leave
Daniel Whitfield pushed his palms against the cold Italian marble and levered himself upright in a single fluid motion.
The blood from his brow trickled past his left eyebrow, stinging his skin, but he did not blink or reach for a handkerchief.
Vanessa froze mid-stride, her designer heels clicking awkwardly against the floor as her theatrical expression of panic dissolved into confusion.
“Daniel, thank goodness, you’re bleeding everywhere,” she stammered, stepping forward with her hands raised in a useless gesture.
Daniel raised his right hand, halting her movement instantly without a single raised word.
“Stop right there, Vanessa,” Daniel said, his voice cutting through the silent foyer like a surgeon’s scalpel.
Grace remained kneeling on the floor beside him, still clutching the clean towel, her eyes wide with shock and quiet caution.
“Get up, Grace,” Daniel murmured gently, looking down at the young maid with a warmth he had never shown her before.
Grace slowly stood, her shoulders tense, bracing herself for whatever corporate fallout was about to land on her head.
Daniel turned his gaze back to his fiancée, whose manicured fingers were now nervously twisting the strap of her handbag.
“You can stop acting now, Vanessa,” Daniel said coldly, wiping a streak of crimson from his forehead with his bare thumb.
“What are you talking about, baby? I was terrified!” Vanessa protested, her voice climbing an octave into defensive territory.
“You stood at the top of those stairs for four full seconds calculating your entrance,” Daniel replied with absolute deadpan precision.
Vanessa’s face lost every trace of its practiced color, her mouth parting slightly as she realized the game was entirely over.
“You were testing me?” she whispered, disbelief and outrage warring behind her impeccably styled facade.
“I wasn't testing you; I was simply watching,” Daniel answered, standing at his full six-foot-two height.
“And now I am telling you to pack your bags and leave this house before my security team escorts you off the property.”
Vanessa stared at him as if he had lost his mind, her wealthy upbringing shielding her from ever hearing the word no.
“You’re throwing me out over a scraped eyebrow and a missing bracelet?” she shrieked, the mask finally shattering completely.
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“I’m throwing you out because when something actually broke in this house, you looked at me like I was a liability,” Daniel said.
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