Chapter 4
The polished grand piano stood against the nearby wall, its dark wood gleaming under the soft elegant warmth of the chandeliers. It was a silent witness to the afternoon’s brutality. Sabina glared at the instrument, her possessiveness completely unmasked. The clean, clear lighting illuminated the absolute fury twisting her elegant features.
“She doesn't just teach him scales!” Sabina yelled, her American accent turning shrill. “She acts like she belongs here! She sits on that bench with him, laughing and playing, while I am relegated to reviewing seating charts and floral arrangements! She looks at you, Rowan! I see the way she looks at you, and I see the way you look at her!”
Tessa lowered her expressive eyes, a furious blush rising on her fair, rosy skin. The quiet, unspoken affection she shared with Rowan had always been a tightly guarded secret, a series of lingering glances and soft words exchanged in the quiet hours of the morning. To have it weaponized and screamed across the dining hall felt like a physical blow.
“Is my affection a commodity you believe you can secure through intimidation and violence?” Rowan asked, stopping just a few feet away from Sabina.
“I demand respect!” Sabina cried, her diamond earrings swinging wildly. “I am bringing my father’s entire southern distribution network to this marriage! I am a queen in this world, and she is a peasant who scrubs your floors! I had every right to put her in her place when that brat called her Mommy!”
Rowan’s jaw clenched so tightly the bone looked as though it might snap. The casual, vicious way she referred to his son sent a lethal current of anger through his veins. He looked down at the woman he had agreed to marry purely for political leverage, realizing the true extent of the monster hiding beneath the satin gown.
“Do you honestly assume that your father’s distribution network is worth more to me than the safety of my son and the hands of the woman who cares for him?” Rowan asked, his voice dropping into a register that was almost a whisper, yet terrifyingly clear.
Sabina gasped, stumbling backward. “You cannot break this engagement, Rowan. The families will go to war. You will bleed for this.”
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“Do you think I fear a war with a family that raises a woman devoid of a human soul?” Rowan asked, his dark eyes stripping away every ounce of power she thought she held. He turned his broad shoulders away from her, completely dismissing her presence, and looked down at his six-year-old son.
“Can you tell me exactly what happened at the piano this afternoon, Finn?” Rowan asked gently.
