Chapter 6
"Marcus!" Vanessa screamed, her voice tearing through the stunned silence of the terrace.
The bride, her luxurious white wedding gown trailing heavily behind her, looked at her unconscious brother buried in the wreckage of the cocktail station. Her fair face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred. She realized the alliance was destroyed, her wedding was ruined, and her family’s treason was exposed to the entire underworld.
Driven by blind, hysterical fury, Vanessa’s eyes darted toward the tablet that was still resting on the wet tiles, the recording poised to play again. She rushed toward Ethan, who was shivering nearby, intending to grab the device and stomp it into pieces.
"I'll kill you for this!" Vanessa shrieked, her arms reaching out aggressively toward the child and the tablet.
Valentina intercepted her with the speed of a striking viper.
Before Vanessa’s manicured fingers could even brush the plastic case of the tablet, Valentina stepped into her path and tore her hand away with a vicious, bone-jarring grip.
"You don't get to touch my son," Valentina whispered, her eyes burning with lethal intent. "And you don't get to touch his things."
"Let go of me!" Vanessa spat, trying to pull away.
Valentina did not let go. Instead, she released her grip only to draw her arm back. She delivered one thunderous, open-handed slap across Vanessa’s face. The sound was as sharp as a gunshot.
Vanessa’s head snapped violently to the side, but before she could even stumble away, Valentina followed through. Planting her non-dominant foot firmly on the wet stone, Valentina drove a hard, perfectly executed front kick directly into the center of Vanessa’s torso.
The bride shot backward as if fired from a cannon. Her high heels left the ground entirely. She flew through the air, her elaborate white gown billowing around her like a parachute.
Vanessa crashed violently into the tall DJ equipment stand positioned near the edge of the terrace.
The lightweight metal stand buckled and folded sideways under the massive impact. Expensive headphones, mixing boards, and thick black cables scattered chaotically across the pristine tiles. One of the heavy speaker cabinets toppled over, landing heavily onto its padded side with a loud, reverberating thump. Decorative wedding lanterns tumbled from their metal hooks, the glass shattering upon impact with the ground.
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Vanessa collapsed into an undignified heap among the collapsed equipment, her luxurious gown stained with dirt and tangled in electrical wires. She gasped for breath, her hands clutching her bruised ribs, entirely unable to stand.
There was no dialogue. The music had been completely severed when the DJ board crashed, leaving the terrace in an eerie, ringing silence broken only by the gentle lapping of the pool water.
