Chapter 2 - The Mask Slips
Carrying his daughter securely in his arms, Lucas walked out of the corridor and stepped back into the blinding light of the ballroom. The music had stopped completely. Three hundred guests sat in dead, suffocating silence, their eyes darting nervously between Lucas and the altar.
Standing near the floral archway was Vivienne.
Her wedding gown was a masterclass in haute couture—pured silk, structured lace, and millions of dollars in handmade detailing. But the serene, radiant smile she had worn all morning had completely vanished. Her face was as pale as chalk, and her manicured hands gripped the heavy fabric of her skirt so tightly her knuckles had turned stark white.
Lucas set Chloe down gently, kneeling beside her, making sure she was standing behind him before he rose to his full height. He walked toward Vivienne with the measured, terrifying grace of a predator closing in on its prey.
“Vivienne,” Lucas said, his voice dropping into a low, sub-zero baritone that made the guests in the front rows shrink back in their seats. “What did you say to my daughter?”
Vivienne swallowed hard, her eyes darting frantically toward her parents sitting in the third row, who looked equally bewildered. She took a half-step backward, her composure cracking under the weight of public exposure.
“Lucas, please… you’re overreacting,” Vivienne whispered, her voice pitching up nervously. “The wedding jitters are getting to you. Children have wild imaginations, and Chloe was just upset because she didn't want to share your attention after we got married. I can explain everything if we just go back to the suite—!”
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” Lucas roared, the full fury of a betrayed father breaking through his iron control. “You told a six-year-old child she was being banished? You told her she wasn't family anymore?!”
“Lucas, please… I only wanted what’s best for us,” Vivienne stammered, raising her hands defensively.
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As she stepped backward away from his advancing form, her high heel caught on the heavy underskirt of her designer gown. A hidden, structural seam along the inner lining suddenly tore open with a sharp, metallic rip.
An oversized manila envelope slipped from the lining of her wedding dress and landed with a heavy thud at Lucas’s feet on the polished marble floor.
