Chapter 5 - The Grand Ballroom
The ballroom of the Castell mansion was a blinding display of crystal, silver, and white orchids. Four hundred of the city’s most influential people mingled beneath the vaulted ceilings, drinking vintage champagne and laughing at jokes that cost millions of dollars to tell.
When Roman Castell descended the grand marble staircase, the chatter in the room subsided like a wave pulling back from the shore.
He didn't look like a groom on his wedding eve. He looked like an executioner taking a leisurely stroll through a banquet hall.
Tessa followed two steps behind him, dressed in her sharp charcoal-gray business suit, carrying a sleek black leather briefcase instead of an evening gown. The contrast between her severe professionalism and the sea of silk and velvet around her caused several prominent socialites to turn and whisper behind their champagne flutes.
At the center of the dais, Senator Arthur Bishop stood talking to the chief of police, while Chloe waited near the multi-tiered wedding cake with a silver knife in her hand.
As Roman approached the dais, Chloe stepped forward with a radiant smile. “Roman! Where on earth have you been? Everyone is waiting for us to—why is she here?”
Chloe’s smile faltered as her eyes landed on Tessa.
Roman didn't stop walking until he stood directly in front of his bride-to-be. He didn't take the silver knife from her hand. Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out the silver flash drive Tessa had given him, and dropped it into a crystal punch bowl sitting on the edge of the dessert table with a sharp clink.
“What is the meaning of this?” Senator Bishop demanded, stepping forward, his face flushing with righteous indignation. “Mr. Castell, are you out of your mind? Making a spectacle of your own engagement party in front of the attorney general and the chief of police?”
Roman turned his gaze slowly toward the senator.
“You always did talk too much when you were nervous, Arthur,” Roman said softly. “Or should I call you by your real name? The man who helped smuggle Viktor Vance’s remaining assets out of Prague through a network of fraudulent PACs.”
The senator’s face drained of color in an instant. “You—you’re insane. I’m a United States Senator—”
“You’re a compromised asset,” Roman interrupted. He raised his voice just enough to carry across the silent, stunned ballroom. “And your daughter here has been a very busy girl trying to access my company’s master servers.”
Chloe’s mask of innocence completely shattered. Her eyes darted toward the exit doors, only to find Roman’s armed security guards blocking every egress.
“You knew,” Chloe whispered, her voice trembling with sudden, unadulterated venom. “You knew from the very beginning.”
“I always know who’s in my house,” Roman replied coldly.
He turned his head slightly, his gaze finding Tessa standing near the base of the staircase.
“Tessa,” he called out across the silent room.
May you like
“Yes, Roman?” she answered, her voice ringing clear and steady through the acoustic space.
“Open the main projector screen. Let our guests see what kind of wedding present Miss Vance brought us.”
