Chapter 6 - The Ultimatum at the Gala AnniversaryOne month later, the Grand Sterling Hotel hosted another high-profile event—the one-month anniversary gala for the newly rebranded Blake-Bellardi Foundation.
This time, the ballroom was decorated not with white roses chosen by a cheating fiancé, but with deep crimson orchids and modern crystal installations that I had designed entirely on my own terms.
I stood at the top of the grand staircase in a backless emerald-silk gown that hugged my curves like liquid fire, looking down over the glittering sea of investors, philanthropists, and city officials.
And then, out from the shadows near the service hallway—the exact same service hallway where my old life had died—a figure stepped forward.
Nathan Wexler looked like a ghost of his former self. His bespoke suit was rumpled, his hair unkempt, and the arrogant smirk that had once defined him was replaced by a desperate, manic desperation. He had managed to slip past security using a forged donor badge.
Before security could intercept him, Nathan lunged forward onto the lower steps of the grand staircase, his eyes wild as they locked onto mine.
"Victoria!" he shouted, his voice cracking desperately as heads turned and conversations died instantly across the ballroom. "Victoria, please! You have to listen to me! Bellardi is destroying you! He's using you as a front for his corporate empire—he doesn't care about you, he's just using you to destroy me!"
The music stopped abruptly. Every eye in the room turned toward the staircase.
Emily stood a few paces behind him, crying openly, begging him to stop, but Nathan was too far gone into his own delusion.
"He's a criminal, Victoria!" Nathan screamed, taking two steps up the stairs toward me. "He's a monster! You think he loves you? A man like that doesn't love—"
"Enough," a voice rang out, cold as steel and heavy as an anvil.
Dominic stepped out from the VIP lounge at the top of the landing, moving with the terrifying, effortless grace of an apex predator. He didn't raise his voice, but the single word commanded absolute silence across the entire hall.
Nathan froze, his foot hovering over the next stair step, his face turning the color of ash as Dominic descended the stairs toward him.
"Mr. Wexler," Dominic said softly, stopping two steps above Nathan so he looked down upon him with towering authority. "You trespass in a building you no longer own, shouting insults at a woman whose shadow you are not worthy to stand in. Shall I call the District Attorney to remind you of your impending federal indictment, or would you prefer hotel security to escort you out through the alley where you belong?"
Nathan trembled, his hands shaking violently. He looked from Dominic’s cold, unyielding eyes to me, standing tall and untouchable at the top of the landing.
May you like
He realized, finally and completely, that he had lost. There was no comeback. There was no escape.
Without another word, Nathan turned, broke down entirely, and let two massive security guards gently—and firmly—steer him out the heavy oak doors and into the Manhattan night, with Emily trailing miserably behind him.
