P2: The silence in the ballroom was deafening. – News

The silence in the ballroom was deafening.

Caleb stood frozen, his face pale with shock and humiliation. Mara’s perfect smile had completely vanished.

Adrian Vale didn’t care about any of them.

He gently held my hand, studying my face like he was afraid I might disappear again.

“Eleanor…” he breathed. (He was the only one who had ever called me by my full name.)

I hadn’t heard that name in years. Not since I was twenty-two, young, hopeful, and madly in love with the brilliant man who had promised me the world before his family forced us apart.

“You disappeared,” he said, voice breaking. “After my father sent you away… I looked everywhere. Private investigators. Every city. Every name change. I never stopped.”