Chapter 3 - Shadows Behind the Mahogany Doors
"What is she talking about, Dad?" Elena demanded, stepping down another stair to bridge the distance between them. The red ring box was clutched so tightly in her palm that the velvet casing was beginning to crease. "Why are you looking at her like that? Call security and have her thrown out onto the street!"
"Security won't help you here, Elena," Chloe replied smoothly, finally retrieving her phone. The screen cast a cold blue light across her face, illuminating eyes that suddenly looked decades older than her twenty-four years. "In fact, your fiancé, Julian, might find the timing of this quite inconvenient."
At the mention of Julian’s name, Arthur’s head whipped toward the arched double doors leading to the private terrace. "Where is Julian?" he barked at a nearby member of the waitstaff, who flinched and shook his head.
"He went outside to take a phone call ten minutes ago, sir," the waiter stammered.
Elena felt a cold knot form in her stomach. Julian was supposed to be waiting in the study with the family lawyer to finalize the prenuptial agreement—an agreement that would legally merge the Sterling estate with the massive real estate holdings of Julian’s family. But Julian had been acting strangely all evening, casting furtive glances at his watch and whispering into his phone in corners.
"Give me that phone," Arthur lunged forward, but Chloe was faster, sidestepping his reach with the grace of a trained dancer.
She tapped the screen twice. Instantly, the ambient music playing softly through the mansion's built-in speakers cut out, replaced by the clear, amplified audio of a conversation echoing from the terrace just outside the glass doors.
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"...sign the transfer documents tonight, or the whole thing falls apart," a familiar, slick voice rang out through the mansion's sound system. It was Julian.
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