. CHAPTER 4 — The Bride’s Last Command
Vanessa did not scream at first.
She laughed.
It was a bright, artificial sound that bounced against the chandeliers and died quickly. “You’re not serious,” she said. “Alex, you are not throwing away a marriage, a merger, and a family alliance because a dirty child walked in with a sad story.”
Lily lowered her face into Ava’s hair.
Alexander saw it—the way the girl prepared herself for cruelty before it arrived. That hurt him more than Vanessa’s words.
He stepped between them. “Say one more thing about her.”
Vanessa’s nostrils flared. The mask slipped completely. “Fine. You want truth? Look at them. Look at her. She was trained to cry. Trained to say Daddy. People like this know how to survive rich men.”
A murmur of disgust moved through the room.
Alexander’s attorney, Paul Mercer, approached quietly. “Alex, I need that letter preserved. And I need the children protected now.”
Richard Hayes snapped, “Paul, sit down.”
Paul did not sit. “I represent Alexander, not you.”
Vanessa turned to security. “Remove them. Now. I am still the bride.”
No one moved.
The head of security looked at Alexander instead.
Alexander’s voice was low. “Bring a doctor. Bring food. Bring a blanket. And nobody touches those girls unless I say so.”
Lily stared at him, stunned. She had expected to be dragged out. She had expected yelling. She had expected closed doors.
She had not expected the man in the tuxedo to take off his jacket and wrap it carefully around her shoulders.
“It’s okay,” he said, though his own hands were shaking. “You’re safe.”
Lily clutched the jacket with one hand and Ava with the other. “Mommy said you were good. She said maybe you didn’t know.”
Alexander closed his eyes for a second. Maybe you didn’t know.
Those words were mercy he had not earned.
At the back of the ballroom, an older woman in a navy suit pushed past two guards. Her hair was gray, her face exhausted from running.
“Lily!” she cried.
Lily looked up. “Miss Janice!”
The woman stopped when she saw Alexander. Her eyes filled with tears and fury.
“I’m Janice Cole,” she said. “Mira’s aunt. And I have proof of everything your family did.”
The wedding guests leaned forward.
May you like
Vanessa whispered, “No.”
But the day had already turned against her.
