Chapter 5 - The Shadow of the Family
The next morning, the sun rose over a blanket of fresh, white snow covering the estate grounds.
Maya woke up in a massive canopy bed wrapped in Egyptian cotton sheets. For a few terrifying seconds, she panicked, forgetting where she was, until she heard the faint, happy laughter of her little sister coming from down the hall.
She threw on a plush velvet robe left for her on a chair and rushed out into the hallway.
In the sunlit nursery at the end of the corridor, Lily was sitting on a soft wool rug, giggling as six-month-old Leo and Toby crawled over plush toy bears. Mrs. Gable was sitting nearby, folding tiny, clean baby clothes that smelled of lavender.
"Maya!" Lily squealed, running over to hug her sister’s waist. "Look! The babies have new clothes! And Mrs. Gable made us pancakes with strawberries!"
Maya dropped to her knees, hugging Lily tightly, tears of overwhelming relief pricking her eyes. She looked at her twin brothers—their skin was pale no longer, their cheeks rosy, their small bodies dressed in clean, warm fleece onesies.
"Thank you," Maya whispered to Mrs. Gable.
"Don't thank me, dear," Mrs. Gable smiled warmly. "Thank Mr. Vance. He spent half the night up with Dr. Sterling making sure the infants' fever broke. I haven't seen him care for anyone like this since his mother passed away."
Before Maya could process Mrs. Gable's words, heavy footsteps echoed down the marble corridor.
Leo, Dante’s lieutenant, appeared in the doorway, his expression grim. "Mrs. Vance—excuse me, Miss Hayes. Mr. Vance requires your presence in the courtyard. We have guests."
Maya’s heart tightened. "Guests?"
"His family," Leo said grimly. "And they aren't happy."
Maya dressed quickly in a dark green wool dress that had been tailored and placed in her wardrobe overnight. She walked down the grand staircase, her heart hammering against her ribs, to find Dante standing in the central courtyard near the fountain.
Standing opposite him were two people: an older woman in an immaculate mink coat, her face frozen in a scowl of aristocratic disdain, and a younger man in a tailored navy suit who looked eerily like Dante, but with a meaner, weaker edge to his eyes.
They were Eleanor Vance, Dante’s stepmother, and Julian Vance, his half-brother.
"This is insane, Dante!" Eleanor’s sharp voice echoed off the stone walls as Maya stepped into the courtyard. "You're marrying a nobody? A girl whose father died in a filthy railyard fire? The board is laughing at us!"
"The board doesn't control my shares, Eleanor," Dante replied smoothly, his hands resting casually in his coat pockets. "I do."
"Julian was supposed to announce his engagement to Senator Ross's daughter next week!" Eleanor shrieked. "If you marry this pauper, you validate your father's clause and claim eighty percent of the voting stock! You are stealing Julian's birthright!"
"Julian’s birthright was squandered at the high-stakes tables in Macau last month," Dante stated coldly, his eyes flicking to his half-brother, who flinched under his gaze. "He lost four million dollars of company funds. I covered his debt so he wouldn't end up at the bottom of the river. He has no right to complain."
Julian stepped forward, his face red with humiliation. "She's a gold digger, Dante! She's using you!"
"Watch your tongue, Julian," Dante growled, his tone dropping an octave into pure, lethal threat. "You are speaking about my future wife."
Julian’s eyes flicked past Dante, catching sight of Maya standing near the archway. A cruel, vicious sneer spread across his face.
"So this is the little stray you dragged out of the gutter," Julian sneered, taking a step toward Maya. "How much did he pay you, girl? A million? Two?"
May you like
Before Julian could take another step, Dante moved with terrifying speed. He grabbed Julian by the throat, slamming him hard against the stone pillar of the archway. The heavy impact knocked the breath out of Julian, sending his designer hat tumbling into the snow.
"Touch her or speak to her again," Dante whispered into Julian's ear, his dark eyes glowing with murderous intent, "and I won't just take your shares. I'll take your breath."
