Chapter 1 - The Breaking Point
The spiked heel of Victoria’s Christian Louboutin slashed three inches from Elena’s ribs.
"Move out of my way right now!" Victoria shrieked, her tailored gray blazer ripping at the shoulder seam as she lunged again.
Elena slammed her back against the cold wainscoting of the Vance mansion hallway, locking both arms over the carrier strapped to her chest. Four-month-old Leo let out a piercing, shuddering wail, his tiny fists bunching into Elena’s cotton blouse.
"Please, ma'am, calm down!" Elena gasped, her voice cracking as she tucked the infant’s head under her chin. "You’re scaring him half to death!"
"Don’t you dare tell me how to handle my own child!" Victoria’s eyes burned with manic rage, mascara smearing along her lower lash line. She drew her leg back and kicked hard, her sharp shoe catching Elena squarely in the shin.
Pain flared up Elena’s leg, but she didn’t drop. She curled her spine forward like a human shield, taking the brunt of the assault to keep the baby from being jostled. "He is terrified of you right now! Look at him!"
"He is my flesh and blood!" Victoria lunged, clawing viciously at the padded straps of the carrier. Her manicured nails tore through the fabric, grazing Elena’s collarbone. "You’re nothing but a hired girl! Hand him over before I have the police drag you out in handcuffs for kidnapping!"
"Marcus told me to keep him safe in the nursery while he finished his call!" Elena yelled back, backing toward the grand staircase step by step. "You’re not in your right mind, Victoria!"
"Marcus doesn't run me!" Victoria snarled, raising a hand to strike Elena’s face. "I am the mistress of this estate, and you will—"
A sharp click echoed through the corridor.
Heavy, measured footsteps moved across the polished oak planks. Marcus Vance emerged from the shadows outside his private study, his dark green suit immaculate, his jaw locked like granite.
The moment Victoria caught his silhouette, her vicious sneer dissolved into an expression of theatrical horror. She dropped her arms, stumbled backward, and clutched her elbow, letting out a pitiful sob.
"Marcus! Thank God you're here!" Victoria whimpered, turning wide, tear-filled eyes toward him. "She went crazy! She’s trying to steal Leo! She attacked me when I tried to take him!"
Elena choked on her own breath. "Mr. Vance, that is a lie—she tried to kick us!"
Marcus didn’t slow his pace. His face was devoid of color, his eyes fixed dead on his wife. "Elena, stay right where you are."
He closed the distance between them in three long strides. Victoria stepped into his space, tilting her head up with a rehearsed, trembling pout. "Marcus, please, fire her right now, she—"
CRACK.
The sound of Marcus’s open palm striking Victoria’s cheek cracked through the corridor like a gunshot.
Victoria’s head whipped sideways. Her knees buckled, and she caught herself against the gold-leaf console table, knocking a crystal vase to the floor where it shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. Leo screamed louder, drowning out the sudden, suffocating silence of the hall.
Victoria slowly brought a trembling, ringed hand up to her burning, crimson cheek. Her eyes were wild with shock. "Marcus... did you... did you just lay a hand on me?"
Marcus loomed over her, adjusting the gold cufflink on his left wrist without blinking. "Enough. I’ve had enough of your performances."
"You don't understand!" Victoria hissed, her voice trembling between humiliation and pure spite. "She was holding my son back from me! She stepped between a mother and her baby!"
"I walked out of the library two minutes ago, Victoria," Marcus said, his voice dropping to a lethal, quiet register. "I stood right behind the double doors. I watched you kick a girl half your size while she shielded my son."
Victoria froze. The blood drained from her face, leaving her ghost-white beneath her foundation. Her eyes darted frantically toward Elena, searching for an angle, an excuse, an exit.
Marcus reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a sealed manila envelope, and tossed it onto the console table right next to Victoria’s trembling hands.
"Pack your bags," Marcus said cold as ice. "Because your custody rights ended five minutes ago."
May you like
Victoria glanced at the document peeking out from the unsealed flap, and her jaw dropped. "You wouldn't."
Marcus stepped past her, placing a firm, protective hand on Elena’s shoulder. "I already did. And if you take one more step toward Leo, the private security waiting downstairs won't be gentle."
