Chapter 2: The Return of the Outcast
Alexander Vance didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. The authority in his posture commanded the entire room. The Sterling family members stepped back instinctively, their former bravado melting into panic.
""Alexander..."" Madam Sterling stammered, her pale hands trembling for the first time in thirty years. ""You have no right to enter this house.""
""I gave up my rights to this house the day I chose love over your poison,"" Alexander said, his voice echoing like thunder through the vaulted ceiling. ""But today, I come as a father.""
He walked straight past the trembling guards, kneeling beside Elena on the cold carpet. He removed his tailored wool coat and wrapped it tenderly around her shivering shoulders. As he lifted her into his arms, he noticed the fresh cut on her cheek and the crushed skin on her hand.
May you like
""Who touched her?"" Alexander asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
No one spoke. The room fell into dead silence. Alexander looked directly at the patriarch standing over the phone. ""Remember this moment, Richard. Every tear she shed in this house will cost you a piece of your legacy.""
