Chapter 1 - The Untouched Plate
“She’s still eating, ma’am.”
I stood frozen beside the massive mahogany dining table, my silver serving tray pressed tightly against my waist. My hands were shaking. Across from me, a beautiful, elegant brunette in a navy evening dress was holding her silver fork with trembling fingers. Her dinner was barely touched.
Silent, heavy tears were slipping down her pale cheeks.
Vanessa Bellini leaned back in her chair. Her fitted red silk gown caught the light of the enormous crystal chandeliers hanging above us. She looked like royalty, and she knew it.
“Emily, I didn't ask whether she’d finished,” Vanessa snapped, her voice dripping with venom.
I swallowed hard, feeling the eyes of thirty wealthy, elite guests burning into me. “Yes, ma'am.”
“Then clear her plate,” Vanessa ordered.
The woman in the navy dress slowly lowered her fork to the table. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” she whispered to me. “I'm not hungry anymore.”
Something about the way she said it made my chest physically ache. She wasn't angry at me. She was just trying desperately not to break down and cry in front of thirty strangers.
I reached out for her porcelain plate. But before I could even lift it, Vanessa raised her voice, making sure every single person in the grand dining room could hear her.
“Perhaps next time, Allison, you’ll think twice before showing up drunk to someone else’s engagement dinner.”
Allison went completely pale. “I haven't had anything to drink, Vanessa.”
Vanessa smiled a cruel, arrogant smile. “Of course you haven't.”
A few wealthy guests shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Allison looked down the table toward the handsome man sitting just three chairs away.
“Adrian?” Allison pleaded, her voice cracking.
He stared blankly at his dinner. He didn't say a single word to defend his wife.
“Adrian, please,” she whispered.
Still nothing. The silence was deafening.
Then, the sound of a heavy chair pushing back echoed from the head of the table.
“Why is Allison being asked to leave?”
May you like
Luca Moretti had stood up.
👉 What will the terrifying mafia boss do when he realizes his staff is being forced to bully a guest?
