Chapter 4 - Standing Tall
Vanessa spun around, her silver dress swishing frantically. "You can't hold us here! This is illegal! I am your fiancée!"
"You were my fiancée," I corrected her. "Now, you are simply a lead suspect in an attempted murder and corporate treason investigation."
"You can't do anything!" Vanessa yelled, her voice mounting into a frantic shriek. "You’re trapped in that chair! You’re a pathetic invalid!"
I smiled. It was a cold, ruthless smile that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone watching.
I placed my feet firmly on the ground.
Slowly, deliberately, I unbuttoned the gray blanket covering my lower body and tossed it aside.
Then, in front of two hundred horrified, spellbound onlookers, I stood up.
I didn't wobble. I didn't lean on the armrests. I rose to my full six-foot-two frame, towering over Vanessa, my posture straight, powerful, and immaculate.
The entire room gasped in unison. Someone dropped a wine glass, shattering the silence.
Vanessa staggered backward, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her eyes darted from my feet to my face, completely unable to comprehend the sight before her.
"Your... your spine..." she choked out.
"Shattered? No," I said, stepping forward. My boots clicked sharply against the floor as I closed the distance between us. "The crash was an attempt on my life orchestrated by your mother’s associates. I survived with minor bruises. But staying in this chair was the only way to see who would stand by my side—and who would line up to pick my bones."
I looked down at her, my eyes devoid of any lingering affection.
"You called me a useless cripple," I said softly. "You laughed at my weakness. But the truth is, Vanessa... you were looking at your own ruin."
May you like
I reached out, took hold of the massive emerald engagement ring on her finger, and yanked it off. She was so stunned she didn't even fight back. I held the ring up, letting the light catch its sparkling facets, before dropping it casually into the half-empty champagne glass she had left on the table.
"Consider the engagement officially broken."
