Chapter 2: The Face of Absolute Ice

Jessica’s POV

The silence in the grand ballroom was thick and suffocating, punctuated only by the dripping of expensive champagne from the edge of my ruined tray. Hundreds of pairs of eyes—critical, elite, and deeply offended—stared at me. But I couldn’t see any of them. My entire world had narrowed down to the man standing on the elevated stage, looking like a king who had just conquered the world.

"Davis?" I breathed out again, my voice trembling as I took another step forward over the glittering shards of broken crystal.

"Davis, look at me. It’s Jessica. I... I waited for you."

For a fraction of a second, a violent tremor passed through his expression. His dark eyes locked onto mine, and the pristine, untouchable facade of the billionaire CEO cracked. He recognized me.

I knew he did. He recognized the eyes that had wept over him in the ICU, the voice that had comforted him before he went into surgery, and the face of the woman who had sacrificed her own body so he could live. His gaze drifted down toward my faded, oversized waitress uniform, and a heavy, panicked shadow crossed his face.

But it was gone as quickly as it had arrived.

As the high-society cameras flashed and the city’s most powerful investors began whispering among themselves, Davis’s jaw tightened. The panic in his eyes died, replaced by an impenetrable layer of absolute ice. He looked right through me, his expression completely devoid of a single shred of humanity.

"Who let this unstable woman into the venue?" Davis spoke into the microphone, his velvety voice cutting through the room like a frozen blade. He didn't flinch. He didn't even step down from the stage. "Security, remove her immediately. She is clearly delusional."

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air straight out of my lungs. Delusional? An unstable woman?

"Davis, what are you saying?!" I cried out, my voice echoing desperately against the high ceilings. I broke into a frantic run, ignoring the sharp pain of glass slicing into my flats as I tried to reach the stage. "It's me! Jessica! The apartment on 4th street... the letters... I called you every single day! I worked three jobs for your tuition! Davis, you’re alive because of my—"

Before the word kidney could leave my mouth, a heavy hand grabbed my shoulder, violently wrenching me backward.

"How pathetic," a sharp, venomous voice sneered.

Valerie stepped forward to the edge of the stage, her emerald silk gown rustling elegantly.

Her perfect, manicured features were contorted into an expression of utter disgust as she looked down at me. "A filthy, low-class waitress trying to climb into a billionaire's bed by fabricating a past? Do you honestly think a man like Davis would ever look at a disgusting creature like you?"

Valerie reached out to a passing waiter's tray, snatching a deep, full glass of red wine. With a mocking curl of her lips, she tipped the glass forward, pouring the sticky, dark crimson liquid directly over my head.

The cold wine soaked into my hair, dripping down my forehead and burning my eyes.

It stained my uniform, making me look utterly ridiculous. From the corners of the room, a wave of low, cruel chuckles broke out. High-society ladies covered their mouths with silk fans, pointing and whispering at the miserable spectacle I had become.

"Get out of our sight," Valerie hissed. Driven by pure, unadulterated malice, she raised the heavy, empty crystal glass and brought it down with terrifying force against the side of my head.

Smash!

A sharp, agonized gasp left my lips as the glass shattered against my temple. The world tilted violently on its axis, and my knees gave out, sending me crashing hard onto the marble floor.

A line of thick, warm blood began to mix with the sticky red wine, dripping down the side of my face and pooling on the pristine white stone.

Through a haze of blinding pain and tears, I looked up one last time, searching for Davis.

He hadn't moved an inch. He stood there, tall, commanding, and completely unbothered, actively choosing his reputation over my life. He watched me bleed on the floor—the very woman who had given him the organ functioning inside his chest at this exact moment.

"Drag her out," Davis ordered the approaching guards, his tone cold and flat. "She's ruining the floors."

Two burly security guards grabbed me by my frail, aching arms, lifting me off the ground like a sack of trash. The humiliation was heavy and suffocating, crushing the last remnants of my spirit. Nobody was going to help me. Everyone was laughing, enjoying the entertainment. I closed my eyes, ready to let the darkness take me.

"Let. Her. Go."

The command was quiet, yet it carried a terrifying, heavy authority that instantly froze the entire ballroom. The guards stopped dead in their tracks, their grips loosening on my arms.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea as a man walked through the center of the room. He was exceptionally tall, clad in a flawless midnight-blue velvet tuxedo, carrying an aura of absolute royalty that made Davis's new wealth look like a playground.

It was Marcus. The enigmatic, untouchable son of the richest man in the city.

Marcus walked past Valerie without giving her a single glance, stopping directly in front of Davis. The tension between the two powerful titans was electric, threatening to tear the room apart. Marcus slowly looked down at my bleeding, shivering form, his dark eyes softening with a deep, roaring fury.

Without a word, he unbuttoned his expensive tuxedo jacket, took it off, and gently wrapped it around my shoulders, shielding me from the cruel stares of the crowd. Then, he hooked one powerful arm under my knees and the other behind my back, lifting me effortlessly into his arms.

"Mr. Vance," Marcus spoke, his dangerously low voice vibrating with a lethal promise as he locked eyes with Davis. "You just threw away a diamond to keep a handful of cheap gravel.

Remember this night. Because it’s the night you began losing everything."

Turning his back on the stunned billionaire and his furious fiancée, Marcus carried me out of the ballroom and into the dark night, leaving a breathless, terrified silence in his wake.