Chapter 3 - Poison in the Champagne
The humiliation in the grand ballroom was palpable, but Alexander did not retreat. He stepped into her personal space, his eyes pleading, desperate, completely stripped of his mafia pride.
""Claire, please. You don't have to punish me in front of these vultures. Let me explain. Let me beg. I know about the baby. I know what happened on the mountain!""
At the mention of the baby, a razor-thin flash of lethal fury flickered behind Claire's icy eyes, gone before anyone else could catch it. She turned to the crowd, flashing a radiant, practiced smile. ""Excuse us for just a moment, gentlemen. It seems an old acquaintance wishes to offer his condolences.""
She guided him toward a private terrace overlooking the freezing waters of Lake Michigan. The cold wind whipped through the doorway, reminding Alexander with terrifying clarity of the blizzard where he had abandoned her. The moment the French doors closed, Claire’s smile vanished completely.
""How dare you speak of my child,"" she whispered, her voice colder than the winter wind.
""Our child, Claire!"" Alexander dropped to one knee on the cold stone terrace, not caring if the entire high society watched through the glass. ""Our baby! If I had known... if you had just told me before I stepped away...""
Claire let out a bitter, mocking laugh that cut him to ribbons. ""Told you? Alexander, I had my hand on my stomach while you fastened that cursed necklace on me. I opened my mouth to tell you, and your phone rang. And like a trained dog, you dropped your wife on a freezing peak because Sophia called with another manufactured crisis. You told me to wait. You told me she needed you. If I had to use an unborn baby as leverage to keep my husband from abandoning me in a snowstorm, what kind of life would that child have had?""
""I was blind! I was a fool, Claire! Sophia meant nothing to me—she was an obligation, a ghost from the past!""
""She was an obligation that cost my baby its life!"" Claire snapped, her composure cracking for a single, raw second, tears shimmering like broken glass in her eyes. ""I lay under six feet of snow, Alexander. I felt my body tearing apart. I felt the heartbeat stop. And when I woke up in that hospital, clinging to life, I gave you one final chance. I said I forgave you just to see if you would stay. And what did you do?""
Alexander’s throat closed up. He couldn't speak. The memory of leaving her bed to comfort Sophia’s burned hand was a crime no amount of blood could ever wash away.
""You left again,"" Claire whispered softly, stepping closer until her face was inches from his. ""So hear me clearly, Alexander. Claire Moretti died on that mountain. She died in that hospital bed. The woman standing before you is Claire Bennett. And I have returned to Chicago for one reason only: to tear down your empire brick by brick until you have nothing left.""
Before Alexander could answer, the terrace doors flew open. Sophia Reynolds burst through, wearing a desperate, disheveled look, having slipped past the venue’s security.
""Alex! I saw your car outside!"" Sophia cried out, her eyes landing on Claire with a toxic mixture of shock and spite. ""You? How are you here? Alex, why are you on your knees for her? She abandoned you! She ran away like a coward while I was the one who stayed by your side!""
Alexander rose instantly, his eyes burning with murder. ""Shut your mouth, Sophia!""
Claire didn't flinch. Instead, she took a flute of vintage champagne from a passing silver tray on the inner side of the terrace doors. She looked at Sophia with utter, sovereign pity.
""Still crawling after crumbs, Sophia?"" Claire murmured smoothly. ""Tell me, how is that hand of yours? Did the burn heal properly? Because while you were nursing a blister, you traded away the only man foolish enough to believe your pathetic lies.""
""You arrogant bitch!"" Sophia shrieked, lunging forward with her manicured nails aimed at Claire’s face.
Claire didn't move an inch. Behind her, two towering Bennett operatives materialized from the shadows, catching Sophia by the wrists and twisting her back with clinical efficiency until she cried out in pain.
Claire took a slow sip of her champagne, then tilted the flute, pouring the bubbling golden liquid directly over Sophia’s designer shoes.
""Remove this garbage from my sight,"" Claire ordered without looking down. ""And tell the Chicago police that Ms. Reynolds has violated the restraining order my legal team filed this morning. If she takes one step within five hundred yards of me, I will have her arrested and charged with criminal harassment.""
""Alex! Help me! Alex!"" Sophia screamed as the guards dragged her backward across the marble floor.
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Alexander didn't even look at Sophia. His eyes remained locked on Claire, terrified and awestruck. The woman he had broken had returned as a queen—and she had come for war.
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