Chapter 2 - The Mask Falls
The silence in the grand ballroom was so profound that the soft hum of the air conditioning sounded like a roar.
Ridge Harlan’s smile faltered slightly, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “August? What the hell are you doing? It’s just a maid.”
August slowly rose to his feet. He did not look like a corporate executive anymore; the mask of civilization had completely slipped away, revealing the dark, lethal patriarch of the Vale dynasty.
He turned toward Ridge. “You put your hands on my wife.”
Ridge took a sudden step back, his face turning pale. “Your… your what? She’s wearing a janitor’s badge, August! She works the night shift!”
“She wears whatever she wants,” August said, his tone dropping into an icy register that made the security guards at the doors reach for their holsters. “And you hit her.”
August didn't wait for Ridge to answer. In one swift, blinding motion, August closed the distance between them. He grabbed Ridge by the throat, lifting the grown man off his feet, and slammed him across the main head table. Crystal wine glasses shattered, ice buckets overturned, and expensive centerpieces crashed to the floor as Ridge choked for air.
“August, stop!” Meredith called out, her voice clear and strong as she stood up from the floor, wiping her lip with the back of her hand. “Don't do this here!”
August stopped instantly. His hand remained locked around Ridge’s throat, but his dark eyes flicked toward Meredith. In front of three hundred horrified members of high society, the most feared man in the state obeyed a woman holding a mop.
“He tried to set a trap for you, August,” Meredith said softly, stepping closer, her gray uniform standing out starkly against the glittering gowns and tuxedos around them. “Ridge hired Luella’s brother’s debt. He forced Luella to bribe the floor supervisor so I would be sent up to Table Four. He wanted you to react. He wanted a scandal to tank the harbor buyout deal tomorrow morning.”
Ridge gasped for air, his eyes wide with shock. He had spent three weeks planning this trap, assuming Meredith was an unsuspecting pawn. He hadn't realized that the woman cleaning the floors had spent the last two weeks reading the discarded memos left in his executive suite.
August glanced down at Ridge, his grip tightening just enough to make Ridge squirm. “Is this true?”
“I… I didn't know she was your wife!” Ridge choked out desperately. “I swear to God, August! I thought she was just someone you’d look bad defending!”
August leaned down, his face inches from Ridge’s. “You thought wrong. And now, I’m going to buy your company, strip it for parts, and leave you with nothing but the clothes on your back.”
August tossed Ridge aside like a bag of trash. Ridge collapsed onto the wine-soaked tablecloth, coughing wildly.
August turned to his head of security, Leo, who stood by the broken door. “Lock the doors. Nobody leaves this ballroom until my wife’s face is cleared, and ensure Mr. Harlan’s security detail is disarmed.”
May you like
August then walked back to Meredith. He didn't care about the cameras, the whispers, or the corporate buyout. He took the plain silver band out of the peppermint tin in her apron pocket, took her trembling left hand, and gently slid the ring back onto her finger where it belonged.
“No more hiding,” August murmured, kissing her bruised cheek. “We’re done hiding, Meredith.”
