The ballroom erupted into chaos.
Guests rushed toward Tatum, who was hysterically dabbing at the massive pink stain on her dress.
Audie used the distraction to slip through the side doors, escaping into a dimly lit, private hallway lined with heavy Persian rugs.
She had barely taken five steps when a hand clamped down hard on her bare bicep.
Fingernails dug painfully into her skin.
Eleanor yanked Audie backward, dragging her forcefully into a dark alcove hidden from the main corridor.
Eleanor was shaking with a rage so intense her teeth were practically chattering.
"Are you insane?!" Eleanor hissed, her voice a venomous whisper. "You ungrateful little bitch! You ruined the most important night of this family's life!"
Audie violently ripped her arm out of Eleanor's grip.
She rubbed her throbbing bicep, her eyes burning with a cold, furious fire.
"I just told her the truth about her precious diamond," Audie shot back.
Eleanor raised her hand, aiming a vicious slap right at Audie's face.
Audie caught Eleanor's wrist mid-air.
Her grip was like iron. She pushed Eleanor's hand back down, taking a step forward, forcing her adoptive mother to back up against the wall.
"Who do you think has been paying Liam's medical bills for the last five years?" Audie demanded, her voice shaking with years of suppressed rage.
"I've been cleaning up your mess for years, hoping you'd show a shred of decency. But after last night, I realized you never will. The deal is over." Audie took another step forward, her eyes locked onto Eleanor's.
"You embezzled money from his trust to cover your own bad investments, Eleanor. You forced me to work eighty-hour weeks to cover the gap so the board wouldn't find out."
Eleanor's eyes darted away, a flash of genuine panic crossing her face.
But she quickly recovered, lifting her chin to look down her nose at Audie.
"If you ever cause a scene like this again," Eleanor threatened, her voice dripping with malice, "I will call the clinic tomorrow and freeze Liam's account. He will be thrown out on the street."
Audie let out a hollow, broken laugh.
It was the sound of the very last thread of her familial loyalty snapping in half.
She reached into her clutch and pulled out her cell phone.
Her thumb tapped the screen.
A clear, crisp audio recording of Eleanor's voice played from the speaker: "...freeze Liam's account. He will be thrown out on the street."
Eleanor's face turned the color of chalk.
She lunged forward, clawing frantically at the phone.
Audie easily stepped out of reach, slipping the phone back into her bag.
"If Liam's account misses a single payment," Audie said, her voice dead and hollow, "this recording goes straight to Child Protective Services and the fraud division of the SEC."
Audie stared at the woman who had made her life hell for a decade.
"I am done with you. I am done with this family."
She turned around and walked out of the alcove.
Her heels dug into the thick carpet, each step heavy and final.
"You will be nothing in this city!" Eleanor screamed behind her.
Audie didn't look back.
She turned the corner of the hallway and suddenly stopped.
The adrenaline crashed out of her system all at once. Her knees buckled slightly, and she slumped against the cool marble wall, closing her eyes to catch her breath.
Then, a scent hit her.
Cold cedarwood mixed with expensive cigar smoke.
Audie's eyes snapped open.
She turned her head toward the shadows on the opposite side of the corridor.
Jaren Jarvis was leaning casually against a marble pillar.
He was wearing a flawlessly tailored black tuxedo.
In his right hand, he was slowly flipping a silver lighter open and closed.
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
The small flame illuminated his sharp jawline and those deep, predatory eyes she recognized instantly from the Maybach.
Audie's breath hitched in her throat.
Jaren stopped playing with the lighter.
He looked at her, the corner of his mouth lifting into a slow, devastating smirk.
His eyes were dark, intense, and filled with absolute, unfiltered admiration.
"Brilliant counterattack, Miss Bell," his deep voice rumbled through the quiet hallway.
