Chapter 1 - The Broken Mirror
The sound of shattering glass had long faded, but the spiderweb fracture across the gilded mirror reflected the fractured truth of the Sterling estate. Clara Hayes huddled against the cold marble baseboard, her knuckles white as she cradled her rounded belly through the starch of her light-blue uniform. The agony in her side was nothing compared to the venom in Victoria Van Allen’s eyes.
“Get out of my sight!” Victoria hissed, her crimson silk gown rippling like spilled blood against the pristine hallway. She raised a manicured hand, poised to strike the trembling girl once more.
Footsteps echoed—heavy, measured, terrifying.
Before Victoria’s palm could fall, iron fingers clamped around her bare wrist. Julian Sterling materialized out of the hallway shadows like a storm given human form. His tuxedo jacket hung slightly open, exposing the dark ink climbing his throat. His jaw was set in stone; his dark eyes burned with an icy ferocity that silenced the entire corridor.
“Don’t touch her again,” Julian said. The words were not loud, but they carried the weight of an executioner’s verdict.
Victoria gasped, straining against his iron grip, her diamond earrings trembling. “You’re protecting her? She is nothing! A nameless servant carrying a mistake!”
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Julian did not blink. With deliberate, dismissive power, he thrust Victoria back. Then, before the eyes of the whispering staff lurking behind the archways, the most feared billionaire in the city dropped to one knee on the cold marble floor. His tattooed hand, rough and warm, covered Clara’s trembling fingers against her abdomen.
He looked up at Victoria, his voice deadly calm. “Leave before I make you.”
