Chapter 4 - The Strike
Chloe raised her hand, her palm cocked back to deliver a public slap across my face to cap off her humiliation.
“And pick up this glass with your bare hands, right now, or—”
Before her hand could complete its descent, my right hand moved with the speed and precision of a striking cobra.
I caught her ankle mid-air as she tried to step forward, twisting it just enough to throw off her center of gravity. As she stumbled forward with a sharp shriek, my left hand swung open-handed.
CRACK.
The sound of the slap echoed like a gunshot through the suddenly dead-silent ballroom.
The force of the blow spun Chloe completely around, sending her sprawling hard onto the marble floor, her expensive diamond earrings clattering across the ground.
Total, absolute silence swallowed the Grand Vanderbilt Hotel ballroom.
For three seconds, nobody breathed. The string quartet stopped playing mid-note. Arthur Vanderbilt froze on the dais, his glass halfway to his mouth, staring in absolute horror at the scene unfolding by the pillar.
Chloe sat on the floor, holding her burning, reddened cheek, her mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief. Tears of shock welled up in her eyes.
“You... you hit me,” she whispered, her voice trembling with infantile rage. “SECURITY! SECURITY, KILL HER! ARREST HER!”
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Two burly security guards sprinted across the room, shouting as they lunged toward me, their heavy hands grabbing my shoulders to force me to my knees.
I didn’t resist. I let them hold me, my breath steady, a cool, terrifying smile touching the corners of my lips.
