Chapter 4 - The Gala of the Damned
The Grand Ballroom was a sea of gold and white.
The air smelled of lilies and expensive perfume.
The same smell as my father's funeral.
I stood in the shadows of the kitchen, watching through a crack in the door.
Sebastian stood on the stage, looking radiant.
He was giving a speech about "moving forward."
Evelyn sat at the front table, nodding like a proud mother.
The investors were captivated.
They were ready to hand him the keys to the kingdom.
"Now," Sebastian said into the microphone.
"I would like to play a short video in memory of my late wife, Valentina."
The lights dimmed.
The giant screens at the front of the room flickered to life.
But the video that started playing wasn't of me smiling on a beach.
It was a grainy, black-and-white feed from a helicopter cabin.
The room went silent.
In the video, you could clearly see Sebastian’s face.
You could see him grab my arm.
You could see him shove me into the void.
The audio was crystal clear.
"Die, Val. The company belongs to me now."
The shock in the room was a physical weight.
Someone screamed.
Sebastian froze, his face turning a sickly shade of grey.
"What is this?" he stammered, looking at the tech booth.
"Turn it off! This is a sick joke!"
But the video didn't stop.
It transitioned to a recording of Evelyn Vance.
"The will is forged, Sebastian," her voice echoed through the speakers.
"If she survives the fall, we're both dead."
"She won't survive," Sebastian’s voice replied. "I cut the lines."
I stepped out of the shadows.
I walked through the kitchen doors and into the center of the ballroom.
The crowd parted like I was a ghost—which, to them, I was.
The midnight-blue silk flowed behind me.
I walked straight toward the stage.
Sebastian backed away, his heels hitting the edge of the podium.
"Val?" he whispered, his eyes bulging.
"You're... you're dead."
"You were always bad at math, Sebastian," I said.
My voice was amplified by the microphone I had clipped to my dress.
"You calculated the height of the fall."
"You calculated the temperature of the water."
"But you forgot to calculate me."
Evelyn tried to run for the exit, but Lucia was already there.
The doors were locked.
The press was already broadcasting the video live to millions of people.
Sebastian looked around the room, realizing there was no escape.
He lunged at me, his face twisted in a desperate rage.
"I'll finish it here!" he roared.
Before he could reach me, a red laser dot appeared on his chest.
Ten police officers burst through the side entrances.
But I didn't want them to shoot him.
I wanted him to live.
I wanted him to spend every day for the rest of his life remembering this moment.
"Stay where you are, Sebastian," I said.
I touched my stomach, feeling a strong, reassuring kick.
"You didn't just try to kill a billionaire."
"You tried to kill a mother."
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"And there is no force on earth more dangerous than that."
***
