Chapter 2 - The Fallout in the Ballroom
Chaos erupted in the grand ballroom as the high-society guests began murmuring in shock and outrage. The elegant string quartet had completely stopped playing, and the warm chandelier lighting suddenly felt intensely interrogative. Cordelia Vance thrashed wildly in her expensive white lace gown as two massive Falcone security guards gripped her arms, dragging her away from the altar. Her blonde bridal updo began to unravel, her facade of innocence entirely shattered.
"You can't do this to me!" Cordelia shrieked, her tear-streaked face twisting with venom as she glared back at Willow. "She’s a nobody! You're going to trust a servant over your own fiancé, Casper?"
Casper Falcone stood beside Willow, his tall, imposing frame radiating a lethal calm. "Take her to the holding cells beneath the south wing," Casper commanded his men, completely ignoring Cordelia's hysterical pleas. "No one speaks to her until I get down there."
As the heavy oak doors slammed shut behind the disgraced bride, Elder Uncle August Falcone stepped forward. The senior man's short silver-grey hair was slightly disheveled, and his hands shook as he adjusted his black bow tie. "Casper... by all that is holy, what is happening here? How long have you known about this treacherous snake?"
Casper looked down at the small black recording device resting in Willow’s trembling but steady hands. "I only knew because Willow came to me thirty minutes before I walked down the aisle. She risked her own life to bring me this tape."
Uncle August turned his sharp gaze toward the auburn-haired maid. "How did you get this recording, girl? Cordelia is manipulative, but she is not careless. She wouldn't just announce a murder plot where the staff could hear."
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Willow swallowed hard, lifting her chin to meet the elder’s gaze. Her hands were still tightly gripping the folds of her crisp white apron. "Because she wasn't talking to herself, sir," Willow revealed, her voice dropping into a tense whisper. "She was talking to the man she hired to kill Mr. Falcone. And he is still inside this mansion."
👉 Read PART 3 to see how Willow narrowly escaped the deadly assassin hidden in the estate library!
