Page 104 of Because I Liked A Boy
I felt the temperature drop before I saw him. The crowd shifted, a ripple that meant a shark had arrived. And then my father was there at the far end of the dais—black tux, ash-grey smile, eyes already cutting through bodies to find the problem he’d scented in his house.
His gaze landed on me like a slap.
The quartet played on. The room held its breath.
I kept walking.
“Isabella.” His voice cracked like a whip, snapping the air in two. The quartet stumbled but kept playing, strings trembling under the weight of his glare. “You dare show your face here? After everything?”
Dozens of heads turned. Jewel-bright women clutched their glasses tighter; men leaned forward, greedy for the spectacle. The Cartwright boy stiffened beside Penny, his chin tilting up like he’d been trained for this. Penny’s hands shook against her clutch, the pale silk darkening where her palms sweated through.
I stepped forward, each heel striking the marble like a challenge. “This isn’t your stage. And she isn’t your property.”
Gasps rippled through the ballroom like a wave against stone.
My father’s smile spread slow, ash-grey and rotten. “Still dramatic. Still ungrateful. You shame me every time you open your mouth.” His gaze sliced to Penny like a knife. “And you would drag your sister down with you? Pathetic.”
My throat burned, but I forced the words past it. “You’re the pathetic one. Parading your underage daughter as a bargaining chip. A deal sealed with roses and champagne.” My eyes swept the room, meeting curious stares. “Do you all see it now? This isn’t family. It’s slavery in silk.”
The murmur that followed wasn’t polite it was sharp, ugly, hungry. People whispered behind hands, their eyes darting between me and the dais.
Penny’s breath stuttered. Her lips parted, the tiniest rebellion. “I don’t want this.”
The ballroom seemed to tilt on its axis. The quartet faltered into silence.
My father’s head snapped toward her, smile vanishing into something skeletal. His voice was a hiss wrapped in velvet. “Not. One. Word.”
But it was too late. The words lived in the air now, a spark in a room soaked with vodka.
I took another step, my pulse hammering like war drums. “She doesn’t want this. She said it. And I’m taking her out of here.”
His mask cracked, and beneath it was something I knew too well pure, ruthless malice. “You think you can undo me with theatrics? You’ve always been weak, Isabella. Always reaching for power you’ll never hold. You’ll end like your mother did silent, forgotten, beneath my boot.”
The world narrowed. I didn’t breathe. Neither did Penny.
“Guards.” His voice was calm now, deadlier than the shout. “Remove her.”
Black-suited men stepped forward from the walls, wolves in tailored armour. Liam’s hand brushed mine light, grounding, dangerous. His voice was a blade at my ear. “Say the word, Bella.”
Chandeliers burned above us, hot enough to blind. Penny’s eyes locked on mine, wide and glassy. Promise?
And I gave it. With all the venom I had left.
“Try and stop me.”
The first guard lunged.
Liam moved faster. His body slammed into mine, arm braced as he shoved me behind him, his voice low and savage. “Now.”
I didn’t hesitate. My heels bit marble as I tore toward the dais. Penny stumbled forward like she’d been waiting for this moment all her life, her clutch hitting the floor with a dull crack. The Cartwright boy reached for her wrist trained reflex, not kindness but I ripped her free with a strength I didn’t know I had.
“Run,” I hissed.
Chaos cracked open. Gasps turned to shouts, waiters scattering as guards surged. A glass tower of champagne toppled, exploding into shards and fizz. The quartet’s bows screeched against strings, discordant, panicked.
My father’s roar cut through it all. “Do not let them leave!”
Liam was already there, ploughing through men twice his size, his fistsnapping one’s head back with a sickening crack. He grabbed my arm with his free hand, yanking me and Penny through the crush of sequins and silk. Someone screamed as we shoved past; someone else cursed as champagne soaked their suit. None of it mattered.
