Chapter 2
Julian groaned from the floor, his fingers slick with warm blood as he pinched the bridge of his fractured nose. The ballroom had devolved into a collective intake of breath, the eighty invited guests frozen like statues caught in a lightning storm. Clara stood frozen beside him, her white gown sweeping the dust where Elena still lay crumpled in her maroon dress.
"Julian, baby, look at me," Clara whispered, her voice shifting instantly from venomous tyrant to trembling, helpless bride. She knelt beside him, her manicured fingers hovering over his bruised cheek. "It was an accident. Elena slipped, and you rushed in so fast..."
"Don't touch me," Julian muttered through clenched teeth, swatting her hand away with surprising force. His vision swam as he rolled onto his side, ignoring the stinging pain in his face to lock eyes with Elena, who was now slowly propping herself up on her elbows.
Elena wiped a smear of dirt and floor wax from her cheek, her dark eyes flashing with a dangerous, newfound resilience. She looked past Julian to the guests who were whispering behind gloved hands and smartphone screens. "You all saw it," Elena's voice rang clear and sharp across the silent room. "You all saw the mask slip. Clara isn't the victim here, and neither is Julian. They orchestrated the entire hostile takeover of the firm."
Julian scrambled awkwardly to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in his jaw, and lunged toward Elena to silence her before she could say another word. But Elena didn't flinch. Instead, she reached into the deep pocket of her maroon dress and pulled out a heavy, vintage silver flash drive, holding it up like a crucifix before a vampire.
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"This drive contains the encrypted emails, the forged signatures, and the offshore account numbers that prove Julian funneled pension funds into this lavish wedding," Elena announced, her voice echoing into the microphone that the horrified DJ had accidentally left open.
Clara’s face lost every trace of color, her eyes narrowing into cold slits as she lunged forward to snatch the drive from Elena's hand, only for a heavy hand to firmly grip her wrist from behind.
