Chapter 4 - The Ambush
When the music finally ended, Leandro gently kissed the back of my hand.
"I have to step outside to take a call from Chicago," Leandro said softly, his voice returning to its calm, business-like tone. "Wait for me at the table. I will have my driver take you home safely."
I nodded, feeling a warm, unfamiliar flutter in my chest.
As Leandro walked out the heavy mahogany double doors, followed closely by his massive security guard, I turned and walked toward the ladies' room to catch my breath.
I never made it.
Before I could reach the hallway, Blair Kensington stepped directly into my path. She wasn't alone. Wesley and two other high-society women flanked her, completely blocking the corridor.
Blair’s perfectly contoured face was twisted in pure, toxic rage.
"Do you honestly think he actually likes you?" Blair hissed venomously, stepping uncomfortably close to my face. "Look at yourself, Clare. You're wearing cheap polyester. You're a plus-size nobody who works as a low-level accountant. He only danced with you to mock us."
"Move out of my way, Blair," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"You're a charity case!" Wesley laughed cruelly, crossing his arms. "Leandro Vitali doesn't date the hired help. My father's corporate firm is merging with his construction empire next week. Blair and Leandro have been secretly negotiating an engagement for months to solidify the merger. You were just tonight's entertainment."
The horrific, humiliating words hit me with the kinetic force of a freight train.
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An engagement? A corporate merger? Was Leandro just using me to make Blair jealous? Was the entire dance just another layer to the cruel joke?
👉 I turned and ran out the back exit, completely unaware that a deadly secret was hidden inside the upcoming merger.
