Chapter 2: The Woman Everyone Feared
The ballroom remained frozen.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Emma Carter still held Victoria Langford’s wrist.
The crystal fragments glittered across the marble floor like scattered diamonds.
Victoria's face burned red with humiliation.
“How dare you touch me?” she hissed.
Emma swallowed hard.
Every instinct told her to let go.
To apologize.
To disappear.
But when she looked down and saw the frightened elderly woman in the wheelchair, something inside her refused.
“She was going to hit her,” Emma said quietly.
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Victoria pulled her arm free.
“You insignificant waitress.”
Before she could continue, a deep voice echoed across the ballroom.
“That’s enough.”
The crowd parted instantly.
Vincent Moretti stepped forward.
Silence followed him like a shadow.
The powerful businessman moved toward his mother without taking his eyes off Victoria.
“Mother,” he said softly.
Isabella smiled weakly.
“I’m fine, Vincent.”
His gaze shifted toward Emma.
For a moment neither spoke.
Emma expected anger.
Expected security guards.
Expected to be fired.
Instead Vincent asked a simple question.
“Were you protecting her?”
Emma nodded.
“Yes.”
Vincent looked at the shattered glass.
Then at Victoria.
Then back at Emma.
“Thank you.”
The words stunned the room.
Victoria looked horrified.
“You’re thanking a waitress?”
Vincent finally turned toward her.
His eyes were cold.
“You attempted to strike my mother.”
The color drained from Victoria’s face.
The realization hit her like a truck.
The elderly woman wasn't an ordinary guest.
She was Isabella Moretti.
The mother of Vincent Moretti.
And she had almost slapped her in front of hundreds of witnesses.
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For the first time all evening, Victoria looked afraid.
Very afraid.
