Chapter 8
The bodyguards forced me to my knees.
Vivian grabbed a fistful of my hair and leaned close, her nails inches from my face.
I spoke softly.
“Vivian Clarke, your hand is about to break.”
Before her fingers could touch my skin, a sharp crack split the air.
Vivian screamed.
Her wrist bent at an unnatural angle and she collapsed, clutching it in agony.
The entire room froze.
While they stared in horror, I calmly pushed myself up, straightened my robe, returned to my seat, and picked up my chopsticks again.
“This hotel really is worth the price,” I said, tasting another bite. “The food is excellent.”
No one moved.
Vivian rolled on the floor crying while Lucas rushed to her, his face drained of color.
“What did you do?” he demanded. “You didn’t even touch her, and yet her wrist—”
I looked at him with innocent surprise. “Everyone here saw it. I never laid a finger on her. Maybe she should spend more time outside. Weak bones are no one’s fault but their own.”
His jaw tightened.
He lifted Vivian and tried to leave, but he had only taken two steps when I said behind him, “Lucas Lawson, you’re about to fall.”
He stumbled instantly.
Vivian flew out of his arms and hit the carpet with a cry.
She had probably never known humiliation in her life. Now it was happening in front of everyone who mattered.
Furious beyond reason, she pointed at me and shrieked, “Grab her! Tear that cursed mouth apart!”
The bodyguards hesitated.
Someone near the back whispered, “She said he’d fall, and he fell…”
I set down my teacup and looked at the men closing in on me.
“Don’t touch me,” I said. “Anyone who does will leave here with a broken arm.”
They still came forward.
The first one reached for my shoulder.
A second later he screamed and staggered back, clutching his arm, which now bent in a way no arm ever should.
At that, the room broke.
Some people backed away from me in fear. Some started muttering prayers under their breath. Others looked at me as if I were not a woman at all, but a doorway to something ancient and terrifying.
Lucas pulled Vivian behind him and moved toward the exit.
I said quietly, “No one is leaving this room tonight.”
The restaurant doors slammed shut on their own.
No matter how the guests shoved or pounded against them, they would not open.
Now Lucas was truly afraid.
“We invited you here to thank you,” he said, turning toward me. “We’ve done nothing to you. Why are you doing this?”
I stood and walked toward them, one step at a time.
Vivian, who had been all rage moments earlier, shrank back into Lucas’s chest.
Then I smiled.
“I forgot to mention,” I said. “My full name is Summer Reed.”
I looked directly into Vivian’s face.
“The woman you called a mistress. The woman you destroyed. Amelia Reed is my sister.”
Their faces turned white.