Chapter 2 - The Fall of the Ice Queen
“You dare accuse my son of lying?” Julian’s voice was eerily quiet, yet it carried across the vaulted ceiling with the force of thunder. He pocketed Leo’s phone and stepped between Elena and the nanny she had tried to ruin.
Elena backed into the heavy oak console table, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the edge for support. “Julian, please! I am your fiancée! I was only trying to protect your estate from opportunistic help! She’s been manipulating Leo, turning him against me!”
“Enough!” Julian roared, slamming his hand onto the surface of the table, rattling the antique porcelain vases. “The wedding is off. The engagement is over. You have five minutes to gather your personal belongings from the master suite, or I will have the staff throw them into the rain.”
He turned to the two security guards who had been holding Nora’s luggage just moments before. “Escort Miss Crawford to her room. Watch her pack. If she attempts to take a single item that belongs to this family, call the police and have her booked for grand larceny and assault.”
The guards immediately straightened, shifting their loyalty without a second thought. “Yes, Mr. Vance.” They moved in, flanking Elena with the same intimidating presence they had just used on Nora.
Elena’s façade shattered completely. The polished, high-society socialite vanished, replaced by a venomous, desperate woman. As the guards grabbed her arms to lead her toward the grand staircase, she twisted around, her eyes locking onto Nora with pure, unadulterated hatred.
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“You think you’ve won, you wretched little nobody?” Elena spat, her voice echoing shrilly through the house. “You think you can just step into her shoes? You have no idea what you’ve just interfered with! This family is cursed, Nora! And Julian,” she sneered, fixing her cold gaze on the billionaire, “you’re going to regret the day you chose a penniless babysitter over me. I know every skeleton in your closet!”
As Elena was dragged screaming up the stairs, Julian closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as a profound exhaustion washed over him. The storm outside raged on, but inside Vance Manor, a much darker tempest was only just beginning to brew.
