Chapter 206
Chapter 206:
A black Maybach came to a hard stop directly in front of the restaurant’s glass doors. Cole stepped out in a perfectly tailored dark suit, his entire bearing radiating a cold, suffocating menace as he pushed through the entrance and crossed the dining room in long, deliberate strides.
Alycia saw him. She let out a small, broken sound and threw herself against his chest, pressing her wet face into his lapel. Her tears soaked freely into the expensive fabric.
Cole looked down at her ruined white suit. His eyes moved to the legal documents scattered across the floor. Then they rose and locked onto Vera.
Vera remained seated, legs crossed, meeting his stare without a flicker of concern. A cold, faint smile played at the corners of her mouth.
Cole didn’t raise his voice. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers once.
The restaurant manager appeared almost instantly, face pale.
Cole reached into his jacket and produced his solid titanium Centurion Black Card. He set it onto the manager’s silver tray with a sharp, definitive crack.
“I am buying out this restaurant for the remainder of the evening,” he said, his voice dropping to an absolute, freezing register. “Write double-compensation checks for every guest in this room and send them home. Now p>
The manager bowed and hurried off without a word of protest.
A low murmur moved through the dining room. But as the double-compensation checks were distributed and the pressure emanating from Cole settled over the space like a physical weight, the other guests gathered their things and filed out.
No𝗏e𝗅𝘀 іn 𝘁𝗋е𝗻d o𝗇 ѕ.с𝗼𝘮
Within five minutes, the opulent restaurant was empty.
Only the four of them remained.
Cole positioned himself in front of Alycia, his body a deliberate wall between the two women. He called out without looking away from Vera. “Manager — bring a dry cashmere blanket p>
Then he stepped toward Vera and looked down at her with total contempt.
“Who gave you the courage to touch what belongs to me?” The words came out as a low, controlled rumble.
Vera laughed — a sharp, fearless sound.
She rose from her chair and stepped directly into his personal space. “You are a blind, pathetic fool,” she said, her voice steady and cutting. “You are letting a pathological liar play you like a cheap violin p>
The muscle in Cole’s jaw ticked. His ego could not absorb a challenge from someone so fiercely loyal to June. He didn’t argue. He turned his head slightly toward the two security guards stationed by the door and gave them a single, quiet nod.
The guards moved immediately. They seized Vera’s arms with forceful, unyielding grips.
“Don’t touch me!” Vera twisted violently against their hold. “You deserve each other! Both of you are going to rot for this p>
The guards ignored her. They wrenched her arms behind her back and physically propelled her toward the exit.
Vera kicked out. One of her red stilettos slipped free and clattered across the hardwood floor. She was dragged out with her posture broken and her composure in pieces.
From behind Cole’s broad back, Alycia peeked out. She watched Vera being removed like an inconvenience, and a slow, satisfied smile spread across her face.