Chapter 1 - The Broken Chain
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"Take it off."
Elena Morris stared at Cassandra Vance, certain she had misunderstood the command.
Around them, nearly two hundred guests stood beneath the towering crystal chandeliers of the Bellmont Grand Ballroom. Politicians in bespoke suits. Bankers holding crystal flutes. Judges who looked the other way. Businessmen whose names appeared in the Sunday papers—and dangerous men whose names never appeared anywhere.
At the absolute center of them all stood Adrian Moretti.
He was thirty-eight years old, wearing a sharp black tuxedo that matched his dark hair and colder eyes. He was the man half of Chicago feared, and the other half pretended not to know to stay alive.
And directly in front of him, his beautiful, aristocratic fiancée had one perfectly manicured hand wrapped tightly around the collar of Elena’s simple gray maid uniform.
Cassandra smiled, but it didn't reach her icy blue eyes.
"The necklace," she demanded, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper meant only for the help.
Her eyes dropped toward the small, tarnished silver locket hanging against Elena’s chest.
"Take it off."
Elena instinctively covered the small pendant with her hand, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"I can’t, ma’am," she replied softly.
Cassandra’s fake, polite smile completely vanished.
"What did you say?"
Elena swallowed the hard lump of fear in her throat. "My mother gave it to me."
A few wealthy guests nearby exchanged uncomfortable, pitying glances.
Cassandra laughed softly, a condescending sound that echoed over the string quartet.
"Your mother?" Cassandra looked around the opulent ballroom as though Elena had just told a hilarious, pathetic joke. "You’re serving vintage champagne at my engagement party wearing cheap, tarnished jewelry like you’re one of the guests?"
Elena’s cheeks burned with instant humiliation. "It stays underneath my uniform most of the time, ma'am."
"Then perhaps you should have kept it there."
Cassandra didn't wait. She grabbed the delicate silver chain.
Elena gasped, taking half a step back. "Please."
Adrian’s eyes narrowed abruptly. Until that exact moment, he had been deep in conversation with two older men near the grand staircase. Now, his attention was entirely, sharply focused on Cassandra’s hand gripping the maid's collar.
Elena tried to step backward again, but Cassandra tightened her fingers around the chain, pulling Elena uncomfortably close.
"You people need to learn something," Cassandra hissed.
The immediate area of the ballroom became deathly quiet.
"You are here to serve us," Cassandra stated.
Elena’s eyes filled with humiliated, helpless tears. "Yes, ma’am."
"Then dress like staff."
Cassandra pulled harder.
The cheap metal clasp snapped.
The silver locket broke free and fell, bouncing lightly against Elena’s white apron.
A collective murmur moved through the room.
May you like
Elena immediately caught the locket in both hands, clutching it like a lifeline. For a split second, she completely forgot the wealthy guests. She forgot the burning humiliation. She forgot the terrible woman standing in front of her.
She saw only the tiny oval pendant her mother had placed around her neck the night before she died.
