Chapter 7
Dominic tried to take the phone.
That was his second mistake.
The first was silence.
The second was assuming my silence had meant he could still touch the outcome.
He stepped close and lowered his voice.
“Vivienne. Give it to me.”
I stepped back.
Not far.
Just enough.
“Do not.”
His jaw tightened.
The crowd watched.
Dominic remembered them and stopped.
He had always been careful in public.
Careful enough to look civilized.
Not brave enough to be good.
My father’s voice came through again.
“Is Dominic near you?”
“Yes.”
“Has he attempted to interfere?”
Dominic’s eyes widened.
I said, “Yes.”
The wedding planner looked down at her phone again, then at Dominic.
Something had shifted.
He felt it.
“You’re making this sound worse than it is,” he snapped.
I looked down at my torn dress.
Then at Chloe still holding one strip of lace.
Then at Eleanor.
“Am I?”
Chloe threw the torn fabric to the floor.
“She is manipulating everyone. My ring is missing.”
My father’s voice remained calm.
“Vivienne, do not discuss the ring.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“Of course. Because she stole it.”
The guest with the silver purse froze near the exit.
The wedding planner’s gaze sharpened.
Eleanor noticed too.
Her eyes moved quickly, then back to me.
She had seen something.
Or suspected something.
But she still chose the accusation because admitting doubt now would mean admitting cruelty had come too easily.
Dominic checked his phone again.
His expression tightened with each silent alert.
He whispered, “No.”
I heard it.
So did Eleanor.
“What is happening?” she demanded.
Dominic did not answer.
He stared at me as if I had opened a trapdoor beneath the ballroom floor.
But I had not built the trap.
May you like
I had only stopped standing quietly on top of it.
Read the full story 👉 Dominic tried to control the call, but each answer Vivienne gave turned the ballroom’s attention back toward him.
