บททั้งหมดของ BETWEEN SISTERS AND SINS: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

~MAYA~ I nodded, stepping toward the champagne fountain to blend in. But the moment Julian’s shadow left me, the air in the ballroom seemed to turn ice-cold. "My, my. Don't you look radiant in red, cousin-in-law." A venomous voice cut through the ambient chatter. I turned around, my heart instantly restarting its panicked rhythm. Damian Vance was standing right behind me. His right arm was still bound tightly in the thick medical brace from where Julian had crushed it in the garage, his face pale, but his dark eyes glittered with a manic, predatory malice. In his left hand, he held two crystal flutes of premium champagne. "Damian," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady as I took a half-step back against a marble pillar. "I don't think your doctors authorized you to attend public events so soon after your... accident." "Oh, a broken arm won't stop me from celebrating your grand debut," Damian purred, stepping closer until his chest nearly brushed my shoulder. He held out

~MAYA~ The digital projector screens cut to black, plunging the Imperial Grand Hall back into darkness. The silence lasted for exactly one heartbeat. Then, the ballroom erupted into utter chaos. Shrieks of terror and frantic murmurs exploded from the high-society crowd. Hundreds of billionaires, international politicians, and board members scrambled in the dark, their shoes scraping frantically against the marble floor as diamond necklaces caught the faint exit signs. The fairy tale romance Julian had spun for the media had just been turned into a psychological horror. "Julian!" I gasped into the darkness, my fingers curling into the damp wool of his suit jacket. Panic clawed up my throat, making my lungs seize as my hand instinctively dropped to protect my stomach. "The screen... she's claiming to be me. She told the world that I'm Ayra, and that you kidnapped her!" "Vance Security, total lockdown," Julian’s deep voice boomed through the darkness. "Seal the perimeter doors.

~MAYA~ The white light was a clinical blade, slicing directly through my retinas. My eyelids fluttered open, my mind screaming that I was still caught in the white chemical fog of the ballroom, or the blinding white flash of Mark's muzzle flashes. I scrambled upright against the headboard, my fingers clawing frantically at the Egyptian cotton sheets beneath me. "Easy, Mrs. Vance," a quiet, female voice commanded. A doctor in a pristine white coat stepped forward, her hands gently but firmly pressing against my shoulders to guide me back down into the silk pillows. I blinked away the blur, taking in my surroundings. I was lying in a luxury medical suite. The walls were lined with cream-colored wainscoting and classical moldings, but the state-of-the-art telemetry monitors humming beside the plush bed betrayed the room's true purpose. This was the private medical wing hidden beneath the Vance ancestral estate—a big, historic manor isolated miles away from the city. A fortress

~MAYA~ The morning light did not bring warmth to the ancestral manor; it poured through the towering arched windows of the grand dining hall like a cold slate. I sat at the far end of the massive mahogany table, swallowed by the scale of the room. The silver tracking shackle was a hidden weight around my ankle beneath a simple knit dress that Julian's personal staff had laid out for me at dawn. Julian’s chair at the head of the table was empty. He had received a tier-one emergency briefing regarding the aftermath of the gala ambush at five in the morning, forcing him to ride out to the city perimeter before I even opened my eyes. He had kissed my temple in the dark, his hand lingering over my stomach with a territorial heat that still burned on my skin. “My guards are at the doors, little bird. No one crosses the threshold.” He thought he was leaving me in an untouchable sanctuary. He didn't know that the vipers were already inside the perimeter. The heavy oak doors of the din

~MAYA~ The iron grip of Julian's hand on my jaw felt like the only thing keeping the room from spinning. His eyes were burning into mine, searching for the crack in my expression with the precision of a predator tracking scent. “Did they say something to you while I was gone?” His voice vibrated against my skin, low and laced with a murderous intent that made the air in the grand dining hall grow instantly thin. Over his broad, towering shoulder, Victoria stood like an elegant statue of execution. Her eyes were unblinking, her fingers still poised near her throat in that silent promise. Her brother and sister sat perfectly still, their faces clear of any guilt, waiting for me to pull the pin on the grenade. If I told him the truth right now, Julian would tear this room apart. He would shatter his family's bones on this very mahogany table. But the board was already meeting in the city. If Julian was stripped of his CEO title because I caused a civil war inside his ancestra