Chapter 16: The Vultures' Taunt

[ SAMANTHA'S POV ]

The sharp click of heels against the shiny floor sounded like wolves closing in.

I didn't turn around right away. I kept my eyes locked on the heavy silver fork in my hand. Slowly, I pushed the metal prongs into the strawberry pastry on my plate, splitting the crust open. A tiny drop of thick red syrup leaked out onto the silver. I lifted the piece to my mouth, chewed slowly, and forced myself to swallow it down past the huge, dry lump of nerves in my throat. I wasn't going to look rushed. I wasn't going to let them see me sweat.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

I swallowed, used a white cloth napkin to dab the corner of my lips, and spun around like I didn't have a single care in the world.

Three girls blocked my path to the ballroom, standing shoulder-to-shoulder like a wall of expensive silk and glittering diamonds. The girl in the middle wore an emerald dress that fit her like snake skin. She had high cheekbones, perfect blonde hair, and a nasty smirk. It was Victoria George. I knew exactly why she was giving me the death stare. For years, every gossip page in the city had basically labeled her the next Mrs. Kingsley. She had hunted David like a prize trophy, and I had just walked in and snatched him from right under her nose.

"I must say, the dress is pretty," Victoria said, her voice dripping with a fake, sugary warmth that made my skin crawl. She tilted her head, making her massive diamond earrings swing. "Midnight blue looks good on you. It’s just a shame the designer had to waste a masterpiece on someone who probably can’t even pronounce the brand name."

The girl to her left let out a sharp, mean laugh behind her hand. "Oh, Victoria, be nice. We should be happy for her. It’s not every day that nobody gets pulled from the trenches and handed a golden credit card."

Victoria’s eyes practically burned with pure hate at the mention of our marriage. She was visibly eating herself alive. I was the random girl standing between her and the billionaire empire she thought was hers.

My stomach twisted into a tight knot, and a sudden wave of heat rushed up my neck. Everything inside me wanted to snap back. The urge to yell and defend myself was choking me. My fingers clamped onto the edge of my plate so hard my knuckles turned white. I wanted to smash the glass right at their feet, scream in their smug faces, and tear their expensive masks off. I wanted to shout that this life wasn't a fairy tale, that I was a prisoner, and that the guy they were all obsessing over was a complete psycho.

But then I caught the look in Victoria’s eyes. They were wide and hungry. She was begging for a reaction. She wanted me to gasp, or cry, or make an embarrassing scene right here in the lobby so she could run and leak it to the press. They wanted a show. They wanted me to throw a tantrum to prove to the whole room that I was just a ghetto girl who didn't belong here.

I took a slow, deep breath, forcing the air into my lungs. I let all that hot anger turn into freezing ice.

I didn't blink. I didn't lower my chin. I let my face go completely blank, wiping away every single hint of emotion until my eyes were wide, dark, and empty. My lips flattened into a deadpan line. I didn't say a single word. I didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken. I just stood there, lifted my fork, took another slow, calm bite of the cake, and stared straight into Victoria's eyes while I chewed.

Five seconds passed. Then ten. The only sound was the tiny clink of my fork hitting the plate.

The smug smile on Victoria's face started to crack. Her perfect eyebrows twitched. She shifted her weight nervously from one heel to the other, completely thrown off by my dead, icy stare.

"What? No thank you?" Victoria asked, her voice losing its sharp confidence and going a pitch higher. "Did the gold-digger lose her tongue?"

I gave her absolutely nothing. I didn't flinch. I treated her like a pane of clear glass looking right through her like she was completely invisible and utterly irrelevant.

The silence between us got so heavy and awkward that the third girl nervously cleared her throat and took a step back, staring at the floor. Victoria's cheeks turned a bright, angry red. My silent treatment was stripping away their power, leaving them with absolutely nothing to play off of. They were completely disarmed, humiliated in the middle of the lobby by a girl who hadn't even opened her mouth.

From a distance, near the heavy curtains of the private hallway, something caught my eye.

David was standing there.

He had finished his call and was watching us from the shadows. His tall frame was perfectly still, hands slid casually into his pockets. But as he stepped forward into the light, I noticed his sharp jaw was completely relaxed, and his dark eyes were wide with shock. He was tracking my quiet, unbreakable posture, watching the absolute freeze I had put on the heiresses. A slow, proud look passed over his face. He had fully expected to find me crying or breaking down under the pressure. Instead, he was watching me completely destroy them with nothing but a look.

The icy look on David's face vanished, replaced by a devastatingly handsome, warm smile that sent a sudden shockwave straight through my body.

Victoria noticed where I was looking and spun around. The moment she saw David walking out of the shadows toward us, the color completely drained from her face.

David stepped right next to me, his massive, broad shoulders instantly blocking the space and shielding me from them. The heavy smell of his cologne sandalwood and cold rain settled over me, intoxicatingly close. He didn't even glance at Victoria or her friends. His dark eyes stayed glued to my face, burning with a sudden, intense heat.

Slowly, deliberately, his large, warm hand slid onto my waist. His long fingers pressed gently through the silk of my dress, pulling me flush against his hard chest. It wasn't a rough grip; it was a deeply protective, possessive hold that sent a massive wave of electricity straight down my spine.

"Everything alright, sweetheart?" David murmured. His deep voice dropped to a low, rough vibration right against my ear, his breath warm and making me shiver.

I kept my eyes locked onto his, my heart starting to pound wildly against his ribs not from fear this time, but from the sudden, choking chemistry blooming between us.

It’s just for the cameras, I quickly reminded myself, forcing my brain back to reality. He’s only doing this because people are watching. Don't fall for it. I knew the truth. He was a master actor protecting his business. But still... a small part of me felt a quiet sense of relief. At least he had stepped up to help me deal with these bullies.

"Yes," I whispered back, my voice soft but steady.

David finally turned his head slightly toward Victoria, his eyes instantly turning to pure ice as he looked down at them. "Victoria. I trust you were just admiring my wife."

"David! Yes, of course," Victoria stammered, her voice shaking as she stared at the way David's arm was wrapped tightly around me. Her eyes practically burned with jealousy, her dream of being with him completely shattered in front of her friends. "We were just... saying hello."

David didn't even give them room to breathe. He looked back down at me, his expression softening instantly into something so tender it made my breath catch. He reached up with his free hand, his warm thumb gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear, his skin lingering against mine.

"The designer outdid themselves," David said softly, his voice loud enough for the girls to hear every single word. He leaned down, his lips brushing against my temple in a slow, lingering kiss that felt entirely too real. "But then again, you make the dress look beautiful, Samantha. Not the other way around."

I stared up at him, my mind spinning. Even knowing it was all a calculated performance for the crowd, the sheer intensity in his eyes was suffocating. Looking at the proud, fiercely protective warmth in his face, I couldn't help but think that under all that cold attitude, maybe he wasn't a complete jerk after all.

Victoria's jaw dropped, her face twisting with pure envy as she watched David flaunt me so effortlessly. She looked like she wanted to scream, utterly defeated by the fact that David was looking at me like I was the only woman in the world.

David's fingers tightened gently on my hip, pulling me even closer until there was no space left between us. He looked down at my lips, his eyes darkening with a heavy, dangerous energy.

"Come," he whispered, his voice dangerously low, a dark promise in his eyes. "The main toast is starting, and I want everyone to see exactly who belongs at my side."