Chapter 1 - The Breaking Point
The entire ballroom held its breath as Adrian Vale stepped closer to my husband.
Derek’s face was completely drained of color.
He tried to pull his shoulders back, but his trembling gave him away.
Adrian did not raise his voice.
He simply looked at Derek with eyes that belonged to a predator.
He demanded that Derek apologize to me immediately.
Derek swallowed hard and tried to play it off as a misunderstanding.
He claimed that marital disputes were normal.
Adrian moved so fast that I barely registered the motion.
He grabbed Derek’s left hand and slammed it flat onto the marble table.
There was a sickening snap that echoed much louder than the one my own hand had made.
Derek dropped to his knees in the middle of the ballroom and screamed in agony.
Chloe shrieked and dropped her phone entirely.
Adrian calmly pulled a pristine handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his fingers.
He told Derek that an apology was no longer sufficient.
He ordered Derek to crawl out of the hotel before he broke the rest of his fingers.
My husband scrambled backward on the floor, humiliated and terrified in front of seventy-three guests.
Chloe ran after him without looking back.
I stood there in shock, cradling my swollen right hand against my chest.
Adrian turned to me, his cold expression softening just a fraction.
He offered his arm and said we were going to the hospital.
I followed him blindly, my mind spinning from the sudden chaos.
We climbed into his armored black SUV waiting at the curb.
His private doctor was already waiting for us at a secluded VIP medical center.
The doctor carefully examined my shattered fingers.
He drew a small blood sample because I felt unusually dizzy.
Ten minutes later, the doctor returned with a grim look on his face.
He told me my hand was not just broken.
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He revealed that someone had slipped a heavy dose of medical paralytic into my champagne.
Derek had planned to break my hand all along.
