The heavy silence within the Mandarin Oriental Salon was fractured not by a whisper, but by a thunderous realization. Serena Montgomery stood paralyzed near the entrance, her eyes fixed on the empty space where Liam Livingston had just stood. The image of him walking away—not with the slumped shoulders of a defeated man, but with the terrifying grace of a king abdicating a worthless throne—was burned into her mind.
Behind her, the gala had dissolved into a chaotic slurry of panic and confusion. Preston Montgomery was being hoisted onto a gurney, his face a pulpy mess of bruised ego and shattered bone, shrieking about lawsuits and street wars. But even his screams were drowned out by a new arrival.
"Dame Beatrice! CEO Quinn from Lumina Corp has arrived!"
The announcement hit the room lik
