The word hung in the air like a guillotine blade, suspended for a heartbeat before it dropped.
Wife.
Elena felt the floor disappear beneath her. She stumbled back, her heels catching on the hem of her dress. She reached out blindly for the edge of a table to steady herself, the room spinning violently around her.
Julian had a wife?
The man who had blackmailed her, who had dominated her, who had made her beg for his touch... was married?
The woman was screaming now, fighting against the security guards who were trying to restrain her. "You bastard! You think you can hide from me? You think you can replace me with this... this trash?"
She pointed a shaking finger at Elena. Her eyes were wild, filled with a madness that chilled Elena to the bone.
"Julian!" she shrieked again. "Face me!
