Chapter 3 - The Shattered Crystal and the Accusation
Arthur Sterling dropped the steel hammer onto the floorboards with a heavy, metallic clatter.
He leaned directly into the rectangular chasm, slipping his powerful arms beneath Evelyn’s trembling shoulders and waist.
Clara fell to her knees beside the opening, wrapping her arms around her mother’s waist to help haul her upward.
Together, father and daughter lifted the frail, shivering woman out of the underground tomb and onto the dining room floor.
Evelyn collapsed against Arthur’s chest, weeping uncontrollably as her body shook with weeks of cold and starvation.
Arthur’s fingers moved with frantic urgency, tearing at the dark fabric bindings that held her wrists captive.
The coarse cloth fell away, revealing chafed, bruised skin that proved this nightmare was horribly, violently real.
The fifteen gala guests stood frozen behind their tipped chairs, their hands covering their mouths in utter revulsion and horror.
Arthur cradled the woman he had buried in his heart, feeling the faint, rapid fluttering of her heartbeat against his palm.
Slowly, the billionaire lifted his head, his silver-streaked dark hair framing a face transformed by volcanic fury.
His piercing blue gaze cut across the devastated banquet table like a blade forged in ice.
Victoria Vance stood on the opposite side of the room, her crimson satin gown catching the chandelier light like spilled blood.
The evil fiancée’s face was completely drained of color, her haughty sneer erased by unspeakable dread.
Arthur rose to his full height, broad-shouldered and towering like a storm over the wreckage of his dining hall.
Victoria’s hand trembled so violently that her crystal champagne glass slipped from her French-manicured fingers.
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The crystal exploded against the hardwood in a spray of vintage champagne and sparkling shards.
"You locked her down there?!" Arthur roared, his voice shaking the crystal pendants of the chandeliers above.
