15 CHAPTER 15
He hadn’t moved a muscle since James’ words pierced the hall like an arrow dipped in venom. But something in his eyes changed no, snapped.
“Because if she gave me permission… you’d be gone by now.”
So, without wasting any more time, they immediately started walking out of the hall-
quickly.
In that instant, James tried to steady himself.
Then William’s hand dropped back to his side, but his voice cut sharper than the slap
itself.
No one wanted to be remembered as “the one who smiled at James Lewis the day the
Victors turned their back on him.”
His thoughts were spiraling.
“Cora?”
Then William leaned in just slightly, his voice now lowered to a venomous whisper.
In his mind, the only explanation he could accept was that he had offended someone far
greater than he thought.
And it was just James, and Cora.
At that moment, the weight of silence in the hall grew thicker than the air.
Across the room, nobody dared linger. They moved like ants escaping fire. Those who had
tried to greet James earlier now refused to look in his direction. Everyone remembered
clearly how William had blacklisted three families on the spot.
His hand reached slightly for the podium, as if trying to hold on to something that wouldn’t slip between his fingers but it was too late.
The slap was so clean, so shocking, so public-it told everyone exactly where the Victor family stood.
17.10 G
James, oblivious to the storm brewing, still wore a twisted smirk on his face. He thought he’d made a statement, and he needed to take action now.
Everything was just too overwhelming, he wanted to scream. He wanted to throw the award. He wanted to rewind the entire day.
James stood in the center of the spotlight, the plaque still in his hand a piece of plastic
that now felt like a joke, He could hear his own heartbeat, He could hear the sound of his
own breath, heavy with confusion and embarrassment.
That’s the only way to explain all of this.
“That’s the kind of horror I should be afraid of? what a joke” he thought bitterly, teeth
clenched, heart pounding.
At that moment some people covered their mouths, others froze with eyes wide.
He stared at her like she was filth.
Because no one wants to be in the bad books of the Victors.
“You better start thanking your gods…” he said slowly, each syllable carrying weight,
“that she doesn’t want me to do something obsessive to you right now.”
How Cora-his ex-wife, the one he dismissed, the one he thought couldn’t stand without
him, how she became the one to ruin him… in front of everyone.
Immediately he stepped back.
In less than five minutes, the mighty event was empty.
This was a funeral, a funeral for James’ illusion of
power.
His gaze wasn’t soft, It was sharp, accusing, full of disgust.
At that moment his lips curled with disbelief. His eyes narrowed with a cocktail of rage
and confusion.
Every eye was trained on William Victor.
This was no longer a celebration.
17:10 6
2/5
But the pain in his eyes… that told the truth.
James staggered.
It had to be something else, a bigger hand. A secret plot.
Immediately his lips curled into a small, dangerous smirk.
Before anyone could blink.
It was a cold, unreadable fire burned in them. The calm elegance of the Victor family’s
eldest young master evaporated into something dangerous.
He turned his head slowly to look at her.
“The meeting is over. Everyone can now go home.”
James blinked rapidly, trying to steady himself, but William took one more step forward. They were eye to eye now one full of humiliation, the other full of unshakable dominance.
He didn’t fall but he might as well have. His pride was already flat on the floor.
At that moment, William turned around, his hands behind his back, his chin slightly raised
commanding without effort, powerful without shouting.
And just like that, the crowd thinned. Like water draining from a broken vase.
At that moment a chill swept through the entire event hall.
“You’d have been gone even before you started.”
She had made him look weak, she had made him kneel without touching him.
Nothing came out, his lips moved slightly, but he couldn’t find the words.
James stood frozen, blinking as if he didn’t hear right but the echo of William’s words was
still vibrating through the room. People didn’t wait for a second announcement. One by
one, chairs shuffled. High heels clicked. Shoes tapped. Conversations died off like a candle
blown out by a storm.
At that moment he clenched his jaw tightly, sweat forming on his forehead.
And worse the people he wanted to impress now bowed to her instead.
A loud, bone-stinging slap echoed through the hall like thunder. James’ head jerked to the side violently, and a thin gasp swept through the audience.
But most of all, he wanted to understand how this had happened.
The once-glorious hall, full of flashing lights and cheerful music just moments ago, now felt like a courtroom after a harsh verdict had been passed. The walls echoed only footsteps and shame.
He couldn’t say anything. No witty remarks. No sarcastic jabs. No threats.
That’s who he should fear?
But that smirk didn’t last long.
No. That wasn’t possible, that couldn’t be it.
“SMACK!”
A woman who once clung to him. A woman who once cried to him. A woman who once
begged him not to walk away. A woman who used to look at him like he was the sky
itself.
“I warned you,” he said with a low growl. “Don’t ever and I mean ever dare to open your
filthy mouth to insult that woman again.”
The silence between them was loud. Unforgiving.
Not because he truly hated her but because she had done what he thought was
impossible.
With quiet fury, William took one step forward. Another. His shoes tapped across the marble floor like a countdown. The crowd parted like a curtain, instinctively stepping back, holding their breath.
His voice came cold and steady.
His tone didn’t waver. His voice filled the room without shouting, yet each word slammed into James like a hammer.
“This is your last warning.”
“How could she become this? How could she flip the script?”
If that could happen to those giants, what hope did the rest of them have? Just by watching the scene how Cora stood untouched, how James looked like a clown under the spotlight they understood exactly what needed to be done.
No one waited to be told twice. No one whispered. No one dared look around. In fact,
most of them didn’t even say goodbye. They just left. Some even stumbled in their high
heels and still didn’t stop walking. They didn’t want to be the last face William Victor
might remember.
