The murmurs rising from every corner of the hall pressed in like a tightening net, and Leo Winslow could feel each whisper land on him like a slap he couldn’t dodge. Faces turned, eyes lingered, and the weight of collective judgment made his expression flicker uncontrollably—green with resentment, pale with embarrassment, flushed with anger—like a palette of humiliation spilled across his features.
He forced a stiff smile, though it trembled at the edges.
“Miss Ariana Winslow… I—I was only trying to help maintain order for the Winslow family,” he said, his voice no longer carrying the confidence it had just moments ago.
Despite being the heir apparent of HT Real Estate Group, a company that commanded respect in most business circles, he suddenly felt painfully small. A real estate firm,
