A chilling silence reclaimed the drawing room of the Thorne residence. Julian’s cutting words instantly froze the raging torrent of anger boiling inside Richard and Beatrice.
Beatrice’s hand, clutching the ceramic vase, slowly dropped back to her side. At the same time, Richard hauled back his step, his jaw locked hard against the sudden shock of the confrontation.
Hearing the commotion down below, Victoria, who had been lurking near the base of the staircase, scrambled down into the open. Her tense, anxious expression morphed instantly into one of radiant triumph.
In her eyes, Julian’s arrival was definitive proof that the man was panicking now that his clandestine affair had been blown wide open.
Floating on a cloud of absolute arrogance, Victoria was a hundred percent certain her t
