Chapter 5
The camera angle shifted to a tight close-up of Amelia. The bright, clear lighting illuminated every detail of her sculpted beauty—the flawless, rosy skin, the sharp contour of her cheekbones, and the brilliant flash of her diamond earrings.
Amelia looked directly at Caspian, projecting an aura of complete, unbothered calm. She could not allow the maid to reveal the contents of the linen bundle to the entire syndicate. She needed to immediately reassert her control and paint the situation as a trivial, harmless accident caused by a clumsy child.
“She broke an old vase.”
Amelia delivered the words with a smooth, casually certain tone. A small, faint breath of laughter escaped her lips, softening the accusation and designing it to sound like an affectionate, indulgent observation of a child's mistake. She offered a dismissive smile, leaning slightly forward to command the intimacy of the moment.
Her eyes carefully and frantically searched Caspian's angular face for any sign of agreement, any indication that he had bought her casual deflection. She waited for him to nod, to dismiss the maid and return the focus to the celebratory dinner.
"Is a simple vase cause for such profound, paralyzing grief?" Caspian asked. His deep, low voice rolled through the quiet room, the measured pauses striking like a physical blow.
Amelia’s smile tightened slightly at the corners, but she maintained her posture. "Caspian, darling, please. You know how sensitive she is. She was playing in the alcove where she shouldn't have been, and she knocked it over. She is just afraid you will be angry with her for making a mess during our special evening."
"Does my daughter strike you as a child who weeps over minor infractions?" Caspian inquired, his cold, perceptive eyes dissecting her false narrative with surgical precision.
"She is just being dramatic," Amelia insisted, her voice lowering slightly, attempting to manage the situation before it escalated into a public spectacle. "The maid is encouraging it by babying her. Tell her to take the garbage to the kitchen and put the child to bed. We have guests waiting for the next course."
"Do we prioritize the serving of dessert over the tears of my own blood?" Caspian questioned, his gaze remaining entirely unyielding.
May you like
He did not look back at Amelia. He kept his tattooed hand firmly on Mabel's shoulder, securing the child against his side. Slowly, methodically, he turned his intense, perceptive stare back to the beautiful housemaid standing before him.
Sylvia stood perfectly still, clutching the linen bundle. She realized that the Mafia boss did not believe a single word his fiancée had spoken. He was waiting for her. He was offering her the floor, shielding her with his immense presence, and demanding the absolute truth in front of the fifty most powerful families in the state.
