Chapter 7
The tension in the drawing room was absolute. The fifty guests sat immobilized, paralyzed by the overwhelming, lethal energy radiating from Ronan Vale.
"You deceived this family," Ronan stated, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that shook the crystal glasses on the nearby tables.
"I secured an alliance!" Sabrina snapped back, her American accent losing its practiced elegance, pitching higher with defensive panic. "The Rowe family and the Vale family needed to merge! You were dragging your feet, Ronan! I did what was necessary to force your hand and protect our mutual interests!"
"Does protecting our mutual interests require terrorizing a woman under my roof to cover your tracks?" Ronan inquired, his gaze flicking briefly to Elora, who was still kneeling on the marble floor, her body trembling violently behind the safety of his legs.
"She is a maid!" Sabrina shrieked, pointing a shaking, diamond-adorned finger at Elora. "She is nothing! I am the daughter of a king! You cannot humiliate me in front of our families over a lie that benefited us both!"
"You humiliated yourself the moment you brought a prop into my home and claimed it was my blood," Ronan replied coldly.
He slowly swept his gaze across the room, taking in the numerous capos, donors, and relatives standing frozen among the velvet sofas. His eyes locked onto Vincent, his most trusted lieutenant.
"Have you all finished your drinks?" Ronan 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 Ronan Vale’s wrath.
"What are you doing?!" Sabrina 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 Rowe family did not stay. They took one look at the cold, calculating fury in Ronan's eyes and the armed men loyal to the Vale syndicate stepping out from the shadows, and they ran just as fast as the civilians.
Within ninety seconds, the expansive drawing room was completely empty, save for Ronan, Sabrina, Elora, Mia, and four heavily armed Vale bodyguards.
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The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut, sealing the room and locking Sabrina inside with her greatest nightmare.
"Did you truly believe you could run a psychological operation against my bloodline and remain standing in my home?" Ronan asked, turning his terrifying focus entirely back to the woman in the emerald gown.
