Chapter 6
The tension in the ballroom was absolute. The fifty guests sat immobilized, paralyzed by the overwhelming, lethal energy radiating from Marcus Hale.
"You mutilated a woman under my roof," Marcus stated, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that shook the crystal glasses on the nearby tables.
"Marcus, darling, please," Candice gasped, her American accent losing its practiced elegance, pitching higher with defensive panic. "You must understand! It was a matter of discipline! She was overstepping her boundaries! She let your son call her mother! I merely needed to assert the proper hierarchy of this household!"
"Does asserting hierarchy require a physical assault and theft?" Marcus inquired, his gaze fixed on her like a predator watching its prey.
"She is a maid!" Candice shrieked, pointing a shaking, diamond-adorned finger at the space behind Marcus, though she shrank back under his glare. "She is nothing! I am the daughter of a king! You cannot humiliate me in front of our families over a clump of hair!"
"You humiliated yourself the moment you resorted to the tactics of a street thug," Marcus replied coldly.
He slowly swept his gaze across the room, taking in the numerous capos, donors, and relatives standing frozen among the velvet seating. His eyes locked onto Vincent, his most trusted lieutenant.
"Have you all finished your champagne?" Marcus asked the room at large.
It was phrased as a polite question, but the command hidden within it was unmistakable and absolute.
Guests practically scrambled toward the exits. There were no polite farewells, no lingering handshakes. Men in tailored suits and women in expensive evening gowns fled the bright, elegant room with frantic urgency, eager to escape the blast radius of Marcus Hale’s wrath.
"What are you doing?!" Candice shrieked, watching her audience, her leverage, and her protection sprint for the heavy mahogany doors. "You can't just dismiss them! My family's capos are in this room!"
The men loyal to the Vane family did not stay. They took one look at the cold, calculating fury in Marcus's eyes and the armed men loyal to the Hale syndicate stepping out from the shadows, and they ran just as fast as the civilians.
Within ninety seconds, the expansive ballroom was completely empty, save for Marcus, Candice, Mira, Noah, and four heavily armed Hale bodyguards.
The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut, sealing the room and locking Candice inside with her greatest nightmare.
May you like
"Did you truly believe you could run a psychological and physical torture operation against my household and remain standing in my home?" Marcus asked, turning his terrifying focus entirely back to the woman in the emerald gown.
Candice backed away from the gilded mirror, her heels clicking unsteadily against the polished marble floor. She wrapped her arms around her waist, a defensive posture that crushed the luxurious fabric of her satin gown. Her diamond earrings shook as her aristocratic bravado finally shattered, leaving only primal terror in its wake.
