Chapter 3: The Shattering of the Crown
The cruel bride didn't expect the groom to leave the reception.
Back in the ballroom, Ethan Henderson had been looking for his bride, but as he stepped near the east wing corridor, his sharp, highly trained ears caught the distant, echoing sound of a woman’s desperate wailing. Trusting his instincts, Ethan bypassed his security detail and sprinted down the hall.
Instead of a successful cover-up, Rebecca's arrogant supremacy shattered instantly when she turned the corner and saw her billionaire husband sprinting toward the study like a force of nature. His face was pale with a mixture of confusion and sudden, dark suspicion.
"Ethan, darling! What are you doing here? The guests are waiting for our toast—" Rebecca stammered, trying to block his path with her massive lace train.
Ethan didn't even look at her. He shoved past her violently, his eyes locking onto Sarah, who was frantically beating her fists against the glass door, and then onto Toby, who had collapsed onto the floor inside the vault, clutching his chest in a severe asthma attack.
"Get out of the way!" Ethan roared. He didn't ask for the key. He didn't waste time on words.
With a raw display of athletic power, Ethan grabbed a heavy, solid bronze statue from a nearby pedestal and swung it with all his might. The heavy bronze smashed into the glass door. The reinforced glass spiderwebbed and then exploded into a million glittering shards, showering the hardwood floor.
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Ethan lunged through the shattered frame, lifting the unconscious little boy into his arms and rushing him out into the hallway. Sarah immediately fell over her son, pulling an emergency inhaler from her apron pocket and administering the medicine, sobbing in absolute relief as the boy began to breathe raggedly again.
As Ethan stood up, his tuxedo shirt covered in glass dust, his eyes fell onto the desk inside the study—and onto the forged financial documents that had spilled onto the floor during the commotion. He picked them up, his eyes scanning the fraudulent ledgers within seconds. The pristine illusion of his new marriage vanished into nothingness. He slowly realized the true nature of the monster he had just married.
