Chapter 4 - The CallAdrian’s expression shifted from smug satisfaction to sudden, dark rage. He stormed forward and grabbed my chin in his hand, squeezing until my jaw bruised.
"Still pretending you’re important?" he spat. "Look at you. You’re bound to a beam in my house, bleeding onto my floor. You are nothing without me, Elena."
Margaret stepped closer, her tone dripping with fake pity. "She’s delusional, Adrian. Cut her down and send her to the guest quarters. We have a party to finish."
Finally, a young catering employee, his hands shaking violently, stepped forward with a small utility knife. He quickly sliced through the leather straps binding my wrists.
My arms dropped like lead. My knees nearly buckled as my feet hit the floor, but I caught myself against the pillar. I forced my spine straight, ignoring the excruciating tear of raw skin against fabric.
Adrian raised his champagne glass to the room. "Party’s over, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming."
"No," I said softly.
The word wasn't loud, but it possessed a strange, heavy weight that made several guests freeze in their tracks.
I turned away from Adrian and walked toward the head table where my clutch sat beside the cake. My back burned with every step, but my gait was steady. Every eye in the ballroom followed me.
I pulled out my phone, unlocked the screen, and dialed the top speed-dial entry.
Dominic answered on the first ring.
"Elena?" his deep, gravelly voice echoed through the speaker.
I looked back at the room—at Adrian, at Vanessa, at Margaret, and at Richard Cole, who was currently laughing with a colleague about a land deal.
"Make his entire family beg for mercy," I said calmly.
There was a brief, absolute silence on the line. I could hear the faint sound of rain tapping against a window on his end.
When Dominic spoke again, his voice had dropped an octave into a register of pure, lethal ice.
"What did he do?"
"I’ll explain when you arrive."
"We’re already outside," Dominic said flatly. "Five seconds."
A heavy, metallic thud echoed from the front of the estate as the massive iron security gates slammed shut, locked automatically from an external signal.
Adrian’s smile vanished. He frowned, looking toward the front foyer. "What was that?"
Outside, dark shapes began rolling up the long, winding driveway. Black SUVs, moving slowly, their headlights cutting through the heavy rain.
May you like
I picked up my coat from the chair, slinging it over my shoulders to cover my torn dress, and met Adrian’s eyes.
"You wanted me to learn my place," I said, my voice cold and clear. "Now you’re about to learn yours."
