Chapter 3
The journey to the head table felt as though it stretched across miles rather than a few dozen feet. The clear, luminous lighting of the room seemed to spotlight Mina as she approached, revealing every detail of her sophisticated black maid dress. The warm golden highlights from the silver candelabras flickered across her fair, rosy skin as she approached Theo’s side of the table. She carried a silver tray holding a crystal glass of water and a delicate porcelain dessert plate for the young boy.
Clarissa watched the housemaid approach, a cruel, calculated plan taking shape behind her polished smile. Over the past few weeks, fueled by bitter jealousy over the bond Mina shared with both Rafael and Theo, Clarissa had cornered the five-year-old in secret. She had whispered vicious lies into the grieving boy's ear, telling him that the maid’s affection was a commodity. She had explicitly told Theo that Mina’s hugs must be purchased, intending to eventually portray Mina to Rafael as a greedy, manipulative servant exploiting a vulnerable child.
"Here is your water, Theo," Mina said softly, her voice carrying a gentle, musical cadence. She placed the crystal glass on the table and then carefully lowered the fine porcelain dessert plate directly in front of him.
Theo did not reach for the dessert. Instead, he reached into the small pocket of his formal dinner jacket. His tiny, trembling fingers pulled out several small, shiny coins he had been saving from his pocket money for weeks.
With heartbreaking earnestness, Theo set the saved coins directly onto the polished walnut table, right beside Mina’s hand. He looked directly up at the beautiful housemaid, his expressive eyes wide with innocent desperation.
"Is this enough for a hug?" Theo asked, his small voice cutting through the localized chatter at the head table.
Mina froze. Her delicate fingers hovered over the table, her expressive eyes widening in profound, bewildered shock. She looked down at the coins, completely unable to comprehend why the sweet, grieving child would offer her money for the comfort she had always given him freely.
Rafael, whose sharp, intimidating eyes never missed a single detail in his environment, caught the strange interaction immediately. The artistic tattoos on his hands became perfectly still. He noticed Mina’s deeply puzzled, hurt expression.
He slowly turned his head, the loose strands of dark hair shifting over his forehead, and looked directly at Mina.
"Mina," Rafael said.
His deep, measured voice dropped a full octave, resonating with a cold, terrifying authority. He allowed a deliberate, agonizing pause to stretch after her name. The sound was not a shout, but the sheer gravity of his tone commanded absolute silence.
Every single guest stopped eating. Conversations died in their throats. Dozens of powerful men and women turned their heads toward the head of the table in total, suffocating silence.
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"Why is Theo paying you?" Rafael asked.
The question hung in the bright, luminous air, heavy and lethal. The sheer vulnerability and confusion in his terrifying eyes was something no one in the room had ever witnessed before. The entire banquet hall held its breath, waiting for the housemaid to answer the mafia king.
