Before Marcus could recover his footing, Elena spun around and immediately scooped a small five-year-old girl dressed in a delicate pink ruffled dress into a tight, protective embrace. The soft rustle of silk and velvet filled the air as Elena pressed the young girl’s head against her shoulder, shielding her eyes from the chaotic scene unfolding before the elite crowd. Stay close to me, Elena commanded in a firm, fiercely protective tone, her arms wrapping like iron bands around her daughter. The little girl clutched her mother’s green gown, her wide brown eyes filled with confusion as she looked at her father. Elena turned back toward Marcus with a terrifying, unyielding intensity, delivering a third scathing slap that knocked Marcus’s head to the side. The high-tension background of gasping guests dissolved into a blur as Elena stood like an immovable wall between her innocent child and the man who had betrayed them both.