Before Elena could process his movement, Julian leaned over the table and struck her across the face with a swift, brutal force. The sharp crack echoed off the glass walls, drowning out the distant sound of the ocean waves. The impact threw Elena backward, her body staggering against the back of her chair as shock rippled through her entire frame. Pain radiated across her left cheek, hot and intense, making her vision blur momentarily as she gripped the edge of the table to keep her balance. Victoria merely placed her teacup down on its saucer with a delicate clink, offering no intervention or words of comfort as her son used physical force to assert control over his young wife.
Elena lifted her hand to her burning cheek, her fingertips brushing against the tender skin where a deep red welt was already beginning to form beneath her heavy diamond ring. Tears spilled over her lashes, tracing hot paths down her face as she struggled to pull air into her lungs. The sheer indignity of the act cut deeper than the physical pain. Julian stood over her without a shred of remorse, adjusting his cuffs while looking down at her like a manager addressing an unruly subordinate. He warned her that she was pushing her luck and needed to remember her place in his house before things got much worse for her.
Instead of backing away, Julian stepped even closer, his shadow falling completely over her huddled form. He raised his heavy right hand a second time, cocking it back as if preparing to land another strike to force her into total submission. Elena instinctively flinched, her shoulders tensing in anticipation of the blow. However, as she looked into his eyes, something fundamental shifted inside her chest. The fear that had kept her quiet for months suddenly gave way to a cold, fiery resolve. She pulled herself upright, holding her ground under the harsh morning light, refusing to drop her gaze or cower before the man who claimed to love her.