Katarina De Luca POV:
The world stopped. The chirping of birds, the gentle clinking of porcelain, the hushed whispers—it all went silent. Every woman in that garden was holding her breath, their eyes fixed on me.
The entire social standing of the De Luca name rested on my next word.
Aria, cradled in Alessandro's arms, allowed a tiny, triumphant smirk to touch her lips.
I looked down at the dark, spreading stain of champagne on my dress. I didn't look at him. Not yet.
Slowly, with a grace that felt alien to the rage boiling in my veins, I reached out and took a fresh, full flute of champagne from a passing waiter's tray.
Alessandro's brow furrowed in annoyance. "Katarina, did you not hear me?"
I finally lifted my head, my eyes locking with his. The obedient wife was gone. In her place was something cold and sharp and entirely new.
"Apologize?" I repeated the word, my voice quiet, but it carried across the lawn. A small, humorless smile touched my lips.
Then I began to walk.
One step. Then another. My heels sank slightly into the soft grass, each movement deliberate, measured. I was a predator approaching its cornered prey.
Aria saw me coming. A flicker of real fear, not the performative kind, flashed in her eyes. She tried to shrink deeper into Alessandro's hold.
I stopped directly in front of them, close enough to see the fine pores on her skin beneath the heavy makeup.
I looked down at her, the way a queen might look at a particularly unappealing insect.
And then, as a collective gasp rippled through the garden, I tilted my wrist. The golden liquid cascaded from the glass, a steady, deliberate stream that I poured directly over the top of Aria's perfectly coiffed head.
She shrieked, a raw, ugly sound, as the cold champagne ran down her face, ruining her makeup, plastering her expensive hair to her scalp.
Alessandro was frozen, stunned into inaction. He had never seen this version of me. He didn't know she existed.
I placed the now-empty glass on a nearby table with a soft *clink*. I pulled a silk handkerchief from my pocket and delicately wiped a stray drop of champagne from my fingers, as if I had just disposed of something unclean.
"Now," I said, my voice level, my eyes on Aria's dripping, sputtering face. "We're even."
Finally, I turned my gaze to Alessandro. His face was a mottled, furious red. "Katarina De Luca! Have you lost your mind?"
This was a mutiny. A public declaration of war.
I took a small step closer to him, lowering my voice so only he could hear the venom in my words.
"Get your pet on a leash, Alessandro."
I let the insult hang in the air between us, a naked threat.
"Or next time, I'll train her myself."
Without another glance, I turned my back on him, on his mistress, and on the shocked, silent audience. I walked away, head held high, and did not look back.
