Chapter 119
No.1
Elisa ignored August's offered arm. She stepped out of the Maybach and walked up the stone steps under her own power, her black dress sweeping over the light dusting of snow. August's jaw tightened, but he quickly caught up, placing a heavy, possessive hand on the small of her back as they entered the estate.
The grand dining hall was a masterpiece of intimidating wealth. A massive crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling, casting a brilliant,unforgiving light over the ten-meter-long mahogany table. The air smelled of roasting meats,expensive perfume, and old money.
The core members of the Chambers family were already seated.
At the absolute head of the table sat Germaine Chambers. She wore a dark silver, high-collared gown that looked like medieval armor. Her sharp,calculating eyes tracked August and Elisa as they walked to the right side of the table and took their seats.
Elisa sat down. She immediately noticed the empty
chair directly across the table from August.
Five minutes later, the heavy dining room doors opened.
No.2
Allena walked in. She was wearing a violently bright, blood-red gown with a plunging neckline that left almost nothing to the imagination. She was escorted by one of August's younger cousins.
Allena walked straight to the empty chair opposite August and sat down.
Elisa's eyes narrowed slightly. This seating arrangement was not an accident. Germaine had orchestrated this. She wanted the wife and the mistress staring at each other across the table, a brutal, silent gladiator match for the family's amusement.①
The first course, a delicate lobster bisque, was served by silent staff. The clinking of silver spoons against porcelain was the only sound in the room.
Aunt Meredith, sitting two seats down, dabbed her mouth with a napkin. She looked directly at Allena.
"I had the family's medical consultant review your interview regarding the JHU Al project, Miss Mills,"Meredith said, her voice dripping with aristocratic poison. "The consultant informed me that you
confused a basic neural pathway with a respiratory function. It takes a special kind of talent to lower the intellectual baseline of the entire Chambers portfolio in a single paragraph. Silence, my dear, is a virtue when one is entirely out of their depth."
No.3
A few of the older uncles chuckled into their wine glasses. They despised Allena. To them, she was a cheap, uneducated liability who only knew how to pose for cameras.
Allena's face flushed a deep, humiliating crimson.Her bottom lip trembled. She looked across the table at August, her eyes wide and pleading for him to defend her.
August frowned. He opoened his mouth to speak.
"Enough."
Germaine's voice cut through the room like a whip.She didn't raise her volume, but the absolute authority in her tone silenced the table instantly.
Germaine picked up her wine glass. She looked at Meredith, then at Allena. "Tonight is a family dinner.We will not discuss the vulgar, embarrassing public relations disasters that certain individuals bring to our doorstep."
It was a masterful insult. Germaine stopped the
No.4
fight, but officially branded Allena as a vulgar disaster.
August felt the eyes of the family board members shiftingtoward him, judging his inability to control his own household. He needed to project stability.
He needed to prove that his marriage was intact and that he was the undisputed master of his domain.
He leaned forward. He picked up his silver serving tongs.
From the center platter, August carefully lifted a perfectly seared, incredibly rare white truffle scallop.
In front of the entire silent table, he reached over and gently placed the scallop onto Elisa's porcelain plate.
August turned his head. He looked at Elisa. His eyes softened into a look of deep, manufactured devotion. It was a performance worthy of an Oscar.
No.5
"Eat, darling," August murmured, his voice a low,intimate caress designed to carry across the table."I remember how much you love white truffles.I
had the chef prepare them specifically for you."
The tension in the room instantly evaporated. The
uncles nodded approvingly. August was showing the family that despite the mistress sitting across the table, the wife was still the priority.
Across the table, Allena's face contorted with violent, ugly jealousy. Her silver fork screeched loudly against her plate as she gripped it with white knuckles.
Elisa looked down at the scallop. The smell of the rich, earthy truffle hit her nose.
She felt absolutely nothing.
No.6
She knew the truth. August had á photographic memory. He remembered a passing comment she made at a charity dinner five years ago. His brain stored data like a machine. There was no love in this gesture. It was just a calculated retrieval of information to win a political point.
It was the most hollow, sickening display of fake affection she had ever witnessed.
Elisa did not pick up her fork.
She reached for her crystal water glass. She took a slow, elegant sip of the ice water, washing the taste of the room out of her mouth.
She turned her head. She met August's fake, loving gaze.
Elisa smiled. It was a terrifyingly blank, dead smile.
"Your acting is slipping, August," Elisa whispered,her voice so low only he could hear it. "Ever since my mother was left to rot in that ward, the smell of white truffles makes me violently nauseous. It reminds me of the decay."
No.7
August's perfect, loving smile instantly froze. The muscles in his cheeks twitched. A flash of pure,humiliated rage sparked in his eyes as his grand,romantic gesture was effortlessly swatted away like a dead fly.
He slowly lowered his hand, forced to swallow the bitter taste of his own failed manipulation.