"No!"
The scream came from the side entrance.
Annabelle ran into the room. She was crying. Mascara ran down her cheeks in black rivers. She looked fragile, broken.
She threw herself into the arms of Gordon Lynn, who was standing at the foot of the stage, his face purple with rage.
"Daddy! Kailee is trying to ruin me!" Annabelle sobbed.
Gordon Lynn snapped. He marched up the stairs. He ignored Ervin. He went straight for Kailee.
"Turn that off!" Gordon roared. "You ungrateful child! Haven't you embarrassed this family enough?"
Kailee's finger hovered over the 'Play' button on the tablet Chaya had handed her. She looked at her father, "I'm not the one who is embarrassing the family."
Gordon raised his hand, he swung.
Kailee didn't flinch, she didn't close her eyes.
A sharp intake of breath echoed through the room but the slap never landed.
Viktor moved with impossible speed. He caught Gordon's wrist in a grip of steel, stopping it mid-air. Ervin hadn't moved a muscle, but his voice, low and cold, cut through the silence.
"Mr. Lynn," Ervin said. His gaze was flat, devoid of emotion, making the threat even more terrifying. "That is my property you're attempting to damage."
Gordon looked at Viktor's unyielding grip, then at Ervin's eyes. He saw his business empire crumbling in those black irises. He lowered his hand. He stepped back.
Annabelle grabbed the microphone stand. "She's just jealous! Julian and I are in love! True love doesn't care about rules!"
The crowd murmured, some people nodded. The narrative was shifting, poor lovers, cruel sister.
Julian scrambled up. "Yes! We love each other! Kailee is cold! She's a robot!"
Kailee looked at them. Her father, her sister, her ex. A tableau of dysfunction.
She looked at Ervin. A silent question.
Ervin nodded. A barely perceptible dip of his chin. Finish them.
Kailee spoke into the mic. "True love? Is that what you call it? Ten minutes before the ceremony?"
She pressed play.
The screen exploded with light.
The video played. High definition. The sound of Julian's drunken slur filled the ballroom.
"Screw the family merger! Tonight is for the boys!"
"Say hi to my boring sister! Old maid Kailee!"
The crowd gasped. It wasn't a romantic elopement, it was trashy, it was mean. It was a groom mocking his bride while sleeping with her sister in the same hotel.
Annabelle stopped crying, her face went red.
Gordon stared at the screen, he saw the timestamp, saw the location tag.
"This is your love?" Kailee asked. Her voice was steady, "Built on humiliation?"
Julian tried to jump up to block the screen, Viktor grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and threw him back down.
Kailee stood there, the video looped behind her. She looked like a goddess of vengeance.
