Chapter 2 — The Man Everyone Thought Was Dead
Chapter 2 — The Man Everyone Thought Was Dead
The ballroom remained frozen.
No one breathed.
No one dared speak.
Damien Rowe walked across the polished marble without looking at anyone else.
His expensive Italian shoes stopped beside Maren.
For a split second, the most feared man in the room wasn't a crime lord.
He was simply a terrified father.
"Maren..."
His voice cracked.
She slowly opened her eyes.
For months she had dreamed of hearing that voice again.
She had imagined heaven.
Instead, she found him kneeling beside her on the cold floor.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I thought you died..."
Damien gently brushed trembling hair away from her forehead.
"I almost did."
He noticed the blood staining her uniform.
His face changed.
The warmth disappeared.
Something ancient and merciless returned to his eyes.
He carefully slipped one hand beneath her shoulders while another rested protectively over her swollen belly.
"Our baby?"
Maren nodded weakly.
"Seven months..."
The words struck him harder than any bullet ever had.
He stared at her stomach in disbelief.
His child.
His family.
Growing inside the woman he had searched for every single day.
Behind him, Vincent Hale lowered his head.
"We never stopped looking."
Damien kissed Maren's forehead.
"I'm sorry."
Those two words carried seven months of guilt.
Then his expression hardened.
He slowly stood.
Every guest instinctively stepped backward.
Headmaster Grant forced a nervous smile.
"Mr. Rowe... I believe there's been a misunderstanding—"
Damien ignored him.
Instead he looked toward Chloe.
"You."
The seventeen-year-old suddenly realized every camera recording her humiliation had become evidence.
"I... I didn't touch her."
Damien glanced toward the shattered trash bag.
The spilled drink.
The blood on the marble.
The terrified pregnant woman.
"I didn't ask what you touched."
His voice was calm.
Which somehow made it far more frightening.
"I asked who did this."
Nobody answered.
Parents looked away.
Teachers stared at the floor.
Even Chloe's wealthy father remained silent.
Damien nodded once.
"So everyone watched."
His security team quietly locked every ballroom exit.
No one left.
No one even tried.
Vincent approached Damien.
"The ambulance is two minutes away."
Damien never took his eyes off Chloe.
"Good."
He finally looked at Headmaster Ellison.
"Until then..."
May you like
His voice echoed through the silent ballroom.
"Nobody moves."
