Chapter 1 - The Boiling Tea
In the grand luxury dining room of the Moretti estate, under glittering crystal chandeliers and tall arched windows, scalding steam rose from a silver tray.
Camille, dressed in an exquisite champagne silk slip dress and shimmering diamond jewelry, tipped the heavy porcelain teapot, pouring scalding hot tea directly onto the bare forearm of the young maid kneeling beside her chair.
“She needs to learn her place!” Camille spat in a furious, cruel tone, her eyes burning with malicious triumph.
Elena Brooks, wearing a black maid dress with a white apron and a delicate lace headband, choked back a gasp of agony. Tears welled in her dark eyes, but she pressed her lips tightly together, holding her red, blistering arm without letting a single scream escape her throat.
At the head of the long mahogany dining table sat Gabriel Moretti. Thirty-eight years old, immaculate in a black tailored suit and dark tie, his presence exuded an absolute, terrifying calm.
While Camille glared down at the defenseless maid, Gabriel slowly raised his left hand. Without saying a word, he unclasped his diamond engagement ring and slid it off his finger.
He placed the multi-million-dollar diamond ring quietly onto the dark wooden table beside his porcelain plate.
“This is not the woman I am marrying,” Gabriel said in a calm, icy tone that sent a chill straight through the grand hall.
Camille froze. The cruel smirk wiped instantly from her face as her gaze dropped to the diamond ring resting cold and abandoned on the table. Her face turned chalk-white.
“Gabriel... you can’t end our engagement over a maid!” Camille stammered, her voice shaking in sudden, desperate panic.
Gabriel stood up slowly, his tall, broad frame towering over the dining room. His expression was cold, unbothered, and absolute.
“Marco, get Elena medical attention immediately,” Gabriel ordered in a low, menacing voice.
Marco, the chief of security, stepped forward rapidly with two sharp-suited guards in black suits, supporting Elena’s trembling shoulders while pointing toward the grand dining room entrance.
“Miss Camille, it’s time for you to leave,” Marco announced in a firm, serious tone.
Camille turned toward the doorway as federal agents in suits stepped into the foyer. Her face completely drained of color in sheer horror.
“No... it can’t be...” Camille whispered, trembling violently.
Gabriel looked past Camille toward the doorway with dark, lethal authority.
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“You’re finished in this house.”
👉 But Camille had no idea that the maid she had just tortured was holding the one document that would destroy the entire Moretti empire’s greatest enemy.
