Chapter 4 - The Price of Insolence
“Who am I?” Julian repeated softly.
He didn't raise his voice, but the words echoed off the high gilded ceilings with the heavy weight of an impending execution.
Julian stepped forward, putting his body between Hannah and Trevor, his vast shoulders entirely blotting out the light for the younger man.
“I am Julian Cross,” he announced flatly. “And the woman you just insulted is my wife. The sovereign mistress of the Cross Syndicate, and the owner of the very ground you are standing on.”
A collective, audible gasp rippled through the ballroom.
Chloe Vance turned deathly pale, dropping her designer handbag onto the marble floor. Her father, corporate titan Arthur Vance, immediately pushed his way through the crowd, sweating profusely through his tuxedo shirt.
“Mr. Cross!” Arthur Vance pleaded frantically, bowing his head in terror. “Please! Young Trevor didn't know! He had no idea Mrs. Cross was married to you!”
“Didn't know?” Julian murmured, his gaze remaining fixed on Trevor, who was shaking so hard his teeth were visibly chattering. “He knew her past. He knew she suffered. He knew her father died in pain while his family counted their silver. And he chose to use that knowledge to humiliate her before this room.”
Julian took one step closer to Trevor.
Trevor stumbled backward, tripping over his own heels, crashing hard onto his buttocks right beside the shattered champagne glass on the marble floor.
His ten-thousand-dollar suit was instantly stained with spilled wine and glass dust.
“Mr. Cross... please...” Trevor whimpered, scrambling backward on his hands and knees, tears of pure horror spilling down his cheeks. “It was a joke! I was just joking! Hannah, tell him! We used to date! Tell him I didn't mean it!”
Hannah stood beside her husband, her arms crossed over her midnight-blue gown, looking down at Trevor without a shred of pity left in her soul.
“You left me in a hospital corridor, Trevor,” Hannah said quietly, her voice ringing out with terrifying clarity. “You told me my father’s life wasn't worth your inheritance. Today, you told me I belonged in the garbage. My husband is simply agreeing to show you where you belong.”
Julian looked down at the weeping man crawling on the marble floor.
“Marcus,” Julian ordered smoothly.
Marcus stepped forward instantly. “Sir?”
“Call the board of Langley Holdings,” Julian commanded coldly. “Short their stock by eighty percent starting at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Foreclose on their commercial mortgages in Midtown. And inform the State Prosecutor that the tax audit files regarding the Langley family trusts are sitting on his desk.”
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Trevor let out a choked, desperate scream. “No! You’ll ruin my family! My father will kill me!”
“Your family is already ruined, Mr. Langley,” Julian said softly. “You destroyed them the moment you opened your mouth to my wife.”
