“Protect me from what?” Victor shouted, his control finally breaking.
“From a sick, struggling wife and a daughter who is starving to death?”
The murmurs in the ballroom swelled into gasps and shocked whispers, with several guests reaching for their phones to record the scene.
Then a voice cut through the noise, rough and filled with years of buried guilt.
It belonged to Brian Smith, the retired family chauffeur, a man who had served the estate for more than twenty years.
“Mr. Williams,” the old man said, stepping forward with a trembling hand raised.
“I simply cannot keep this secret any longer, no matter what happens to me.”
Maris screamed at him, her face twisting with malice.
“Brian, you get out of here right now and stay out of this business!”
But the old man ignored her, his eyes fixed on Victor.
“Mrs. Catherine never wanted a divorce, and your mother was the one who personally threw her onto the street,” Brian confessed, his voice growing steadier.
