Strangers in the End Chapter 2

The steward took it, glanced at it once, and immediately called out with the utmost respect, "Donna. Please, this way to the second floor."

A ripple of shock ran through the crowd.

Someone muttered under their breath, "Did you see that? That looked like the Thorne family crest."

"No way. She carries the crest, and he called her Donna. Don't tell me she's Don Thorne's wife?"

The rustling murmurs wouldn't let up, and they were honestly starting to grate.

A cold edge sharpened in my eyes, and I turned to walk away, only for a cool, strong hand to clamp down hard around my wrist.

Eli's grip was heavy enough to nearly crush the bone, his cool palm carrying that cold scent that belonged to him alone.

It was the scent the old me had known best, and now it did nothing but turn my stomach.

A panic I couldn't read churned in his eyes, his knuckles digging into my flesh, refusing to loosen even a fraction. "You're married? And to Leon Thorne, of all people?"

Karina stood off to one side, her shrill laughter piercing enough to make the whole hall's ears ache.

She reached up and hooked her arm through Eli's other one, pressing herself deliberately against him, cutting a sidelong glance at me full of spiteful mockery.

"Eli, don't let her fool you. Women like her will fabricate absolutely anything. There's no way the Thorne family would take in a disgraced traitor. She probably stole that invitation with some dirty trick!"

"She has bad records, doesn't she?"

The guests around us burst into whispers again.

Scraps of ridicule and appraising looks landed on me, most of them following Karina's lead and quietly drawing their own conclusions, their eyes turning more contemptuous by the second.

Eli's brows twisted into a hard, cold crease, and his grip on my wrist tightened another degree.

There was a barely perceptible edge of anxiety in his voice. "Layla, tell me the truth. Where did you go these three years, and what did you do? You're being so reckless. If you anger the Thorne family, even I won't be able to protect you. Be good, and leave now with my men."

I let out a low laugh.

I wrenched free of his hold with a hard jerk. "Protect me?"

I lifted my eyes and looked straight at him, biting off each word, my voice cold as ice. "Back when you threw me out of the mansion, pinned the theft of family secrets on me, and let the whole world spit on me, why didn't you think to protect me then? Eli, what makes you think a few soft words now would send me chasing after you like a dog again, the way I used to?"

His frame stiffened slightly, his thin lips pressing tight, and that fleeting hesitation surfaced in his eyes once more.

Yet what came out of his mouth was as lofty as ever. "You know she's Anthony's daughter. Anthony held enormous power back then. I couldn't ruin her name. There is nothing I can do."

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him any longer, and turned aside to leave. "Steward. Take me up to the second floor."