Chapter 1 - The Heavy Tray

The grand luxury gala ballroom was suffocatingly tense beneath the glittering crystal chandeliers.
"Give her back the tray, Claire," Victoria Belotti demanded, her voice sharp and echoing over the polite murmurs of the wealthy guests.
Victoria was a striking, elegant woman in her late thirties, her blonde hair swept into a flawless updo. She wore a dramatic dark red off-the-shoulder evening gown, and a massive teardrop diamond necklace rested against her collarbone. But right now, her beautiful face was twisted into a mask of pure, ugly rage. She pointed a manicured finger aggressively at the young maid standing in front of her.
Claire, a woman in her twenties with a messy dark bun and a standard black and white maid uniform, was holding a heavy silver tray loaded with six crystal champagne glasses. She looked terrified, but she refused to step aside.
Hiding directly behind Claire’s white apron, clutching the fabric with tiny, trembling hands, was a seven-year-old girl named Lily.
"Mrs. Belotti, she shouldn't be carrying these," Claire pleaded, her voice shaking as she tried to shield the sobbing little girl from the woman’s wrath. "The tray is too heavy, and she’s just a child."
Victoria leaned forward, her eyes narrowing into cruel slits. She didn't care who was watching.
"Get back to the kitchen, you desperate little maid!" Victoria shouted aggressively, the veins in her neck popping. "She needs to learn how to be useful!"
Across the ballroom, sitting at a VIP table covered in a crisp white tablecloth, a man suddenly pushed himself up from his gold chair. He was a muscular man in his late thirties, wearing a tailored all-black suit and a black tie. Intricate, dark tattoos crawled up his neck and across his jawline.
May you like
It was Dante. The billionaire host of the gala, and Lily’s father.
👉 What will the terrifying billionaire do when he realizes what is happening to his daughter?