A SICKENING SOUND

The man scoffed, though the sound lacked the same confidence from before.

“And who the hell are you?” he challenged. “Do you even know who I am?”

Jace tilted his head slightly.

“No,” he replied calmly. “And I don’t care.”

Something dangerous moved beneath the calmness in his expression as he glanced briefly at me before facing the man again.

“She was about to apologize.”

“That doesn’t fix anything,” the man snapped, stepping closer.

“No,” Jace agreed quietly. “But you never gave her the chance.”

Ivy appeared nearby carrying a tray of roasted chicken and vegetables, but the moment she sensed the tension in the air, her movements slowed. Fear flashed briefly across her face while the other workers remained frozen in place, silently watching everything unfold.

The customer straightened arrogantly. “I want to speak to the manager.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jace said calmly, his gaze never leaving him as the man frowned. “Yeah?”

“Because you’re speaking to her boss,” Jace finished.

Shock hit me instantly as I realized he owned Bluebird Café.

Across the room, Ivy froze mid-movement with the tray still in her hands before quickly turning away and hurrying off to serve another table, her pace slightly quicker than before.

The man’s expression hardened, but Jace stepped closer before he could speak again, and the air around him shifted, becoming dense and violent, like something monstrous was trapped beneath his skin, straining to break free.

“Your evening here is over,” Jace said softly, though the softness somehow sounded more threatening than shouting ever could. “Leave now.”

The man swallowed hard, but pride still kept him standing in place as Jace leaned in slightly, and for the briefest second, I could have sworn his eyes flashed unnaturally beneath the café lights.

“Don’t force me,” he murmured quietly, and a cold certainty settled in me that if this man pushed him any further, something terrible was about to happen.

"Daniel," Roselyn voice sliced through the thick tension from the restaurant entrance, sharp enough to make every sound around us dim for a second, and I turned slightly as she walked in, shock and fury written across her face. The moment she reached him, her palm cracked hard against his cheek, the force snapping his head sideways as his hand flew to his face, and when he looked back at her, there was disbelief in his eyes, almost as if he truly could not understand why she had hit him. "You piece of shit."

"Roselyn... My love," Daniel started, but she lifted a finger instantly, silencing him before he could continue, her chest rising unevenly as she turned her face away for a brief moment like she was trying to steady herself against the disgust crawling through her.

"You beast," she said at last, her voice frighteningly calm despite the rage beneath it, and her eyes flickered toward the wine stain on his clothes before returning to his face. "Exerting your strength on an innocent girl over something this little... you are less of a man than I thought. If this is how little control you have over yourself, then I pity any woman who ends up with you."