CHAPTER 2 — The Man Who Answered My Call
The ballroom doors exploded open.
Not with violence.
With authority.
A group of men in dark suits entered first.
Behind them walked my father.
Alexander Vale.
The man newspapers called "The Ghost Investor."
A billionaire who disappeared from public life twenty years ago.
Nathan froze.
The color drained from his face.
"No..."
Celeste stood slowly.
"That's impossible."
My father looked around the room.
Then his eyes landed on me.
His expression changed instantly.
Not anger.
Not rage.
Pain.
Because he saw what they had done.
"Evelyn."
His voice was calm.
But everyone in that room felt the danger behind it.
"Who did this to you?"
I looked at Nathan.
The man who once promised to protect me.
"The man standing there."
My father's eyes moved toward Nathan.
And for the first time...
Nathan understood.
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He had not broken a helpless woman.
He had attacked the daughter of the wrong man.
