Chapter 3: The Crimson Rebellion
Arthur Vance’s face turned an apoplectic shade of crimson. "Elena, you are making a spectacle in front of our board members, our investors, and the press! Step back this instant and let security do their job!"
The security team moved in, two towering men in earpieces grabbing Julian’s shoulders. Julian did not resist; he simply looked at Elena with gentle dignity, ready to step back into the dark. But Elena planted herself directly in front of him, her crimson gown billowing like a battle flag. Her voice echoed off the gilded ceiling with fierce clarity. "If one hand touches him, I walk out those doors tonight, and every media outlet in the country will hear how Arthur Vance threw out the man who pulled his only daughter from the flames."
The guards froze, looking uncertainly at the billionaire patriarch. Flashbulbs from two invited society journalists went off in rapid staccato bursts. Gregory Thorne sneered, reaching for Elena’s wrist. "Elena, be reasonable! You’re humiliating our families over a blue-collar nobody!"
Elena looked down at the six-carat diamond ring glistening on her left finger. Without a second's hesitation, she pulled it off and dropped it into Gregory’s breast pocket. "The engagement is off, Gregory. I spent ten years thinking my savior was a ghost, while my father lied to my face. I won't spend the next forty years married to a coward."
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A collective gasp ripped through the audience. Julian reached out a soot-dusted hand, catching Elena’s trembling elbow softly. "Elena... you don't have to throw your life away for me."
"I'm not throwing it away, Julian," she said, looking into his hazel eyes for the first time in ten years. "I'm finally living it."
