Chapter 8

Janna's pink dress flared out as she ran across the polished marble floor. She did not hesitate. She crashed right through Jake Yates's terrifying aura and wrapped her small arms tightly around his tailored trouser leg.

She tilted her delicate, flushed face upward.

"Daddy!" Janna yelled. Her voice was crisp, loud, and echoed perfectly through the dead-silent ballroom.

The word hit the room like a physical shockwave.

The silence deepened into something suffocating. You could hear a pin drop.

Jake Yates, a man whose face was famous for never showing a single trace of emotion, froze. Genuine, raw shock cracked his cold facade. He looked down at the tiny girl clinging to his leg.

A few feet away, the triumphant smile on Bella's face completely shattered. Her hand began to tremble so violently that the champagne in her glass sloshed over the rim, spilling onto her million-dollar dress.

The media reporters stationed at the back of the room snapped out of their shock.

Camera flashes erupted like a violent lightning storm. The rapid-fire clicking of camera shutters filled the air. This was the scandal of the decade.

Jake's chief assistant, Alex, lunged forward. He signaled the security team to block the cameras and reached down to pull Janna away from his boss.

Jake's hand shot out. He grabbed Alex's wrist, stopping him instantly.

Jake didn't know why, but looking down at this little girl, he felt absolutely no disgust. He did not want her pushed away.

Janna's eyes filled with large, dramatic tears.

"You are a bad daddy!" Janna cried out, her voice trembling with perfectly executed childish grief. "You abandoned Mommy and us! And now you are going to marry an ugly old witch!"

The entire ballroom gasped collectively. Hundreds of eyes slowly turned to look at Bella, the "ugly old witch."

Bella's face turned a sickly, ashen gray. Her carefully crafted high-society persona disintegrated.

"Security!" Bella shrieked, her voice cracking with hysterical panic. "Throw this feral brat out of here immediately! Get her out!"

Two massive security guards stepped forward, reaching for Janna.

"Touch her, and I guarantee you will disappear from New York by tomorrow morning."

The voice was young, but it carried a chilling, absolute authority.

Jovany stepped out from behind Geovanni. He had his hands shoved casually into the pockets of his miniature suit. His eyes swept over the guards with cold, lethal warning.

As Jovany stepped into the bright light of the chandeliers, the crowd let out an even louder gasp.

Sitting at the primary VIP table, Doretta Yates-Jake's mother-slammed her hands onto the table and stood up. Her bone-china teacup tipped over, shattering onto the floor.

Doretta stared at Jovany's face. Her heart hammered against her ribs. The boy's jawline, his brow, the arrogant tilt of his chin-he was an exact carbon copy of Jake when he was five years old. There was no denying the Yates bloodline.

Bella saw Jovany's face.

The world spun around her. A sickening wave of confusion and terror slammed into her chest. How is there another one? she thought frantically. Did I steal the wrong baby? Did she survive and have another child later? Her wide, trembling eyes darted from Jovany to the little girl in the pink dress. The exact same nose, the exact same jawline. The terrifying, undeniable family resemblance clicked into place. The memory of the roaring flames in the Queens basement exploded in her brain. She realized the horrifying truth. Alisson had not given birth to just one child that night. She had given birth to three.

Pure, blinding terror erased Bella's sanity. She lunged off the stage, her hands reaching out like claws toward Jovany's throat.

"You are liars!" Bella screamed wildly.

Jake moved faster than lightning. His massive frame stepped in front of Jovany, shielding the boy completely. Jake's hand shot out and clamped around Bella's wrist. He squeezed.

Bella let out a whimper of pain. The bones in her wrist ground together under his crushing grip.

"Watch yourself," Jake warned, his voice a low, lethal growl. He threw her arm back. He turned his head and looked down at Jovany, his dark eyes swirling with intense, dangerous curiosity.

Standing in the shadows, Alisson saw Jake grab Bella. She knew the situation had spiraled completely out of control. If she stayed hidden, her children would be swallowed alive by these predators.

She reached up and ripped the black lace mask off her face. She tossed it onto a nearby dining table.

She stepped out of the darkness.

Her red stilettos clicked sharply against the marble. She walked with the slow, predatory grace of a queen stepping onto a battlefield. Her stunning, flawless face was a mask of pure ice.

The chaotic ballroom fell silent once again as the crowd parted to let her through.

Bella looked up. When she saw Alisson's face, all the blood drained from her body. She let out a choked, horrifying scream, her legs giving out completely. She collapsed onto the floor in a heap of white silk.

Iman Lucas and Delphie Lucas stood frozen in terror, their mouths hanging open. The daughter they had sacrificed and left to burn to death five years ago had returned from hell.

Alisson ignored the Lucas family entirely. She walked straight to the front of the stage.

She reached down and scooped Janna up into her arms, pressing the girl's face into her neck. She grabbed Jovany's hand, pulling him close to her side.

Jake stared at the woman in the red dress. His pupils contracted violently.

He recognized her immediately. It was the woman from the airport. The woman who had calmed Geovanni.

But it was more than that. A sudden, violent jolt of electricity shot through his nervous system. A deep, physiological familiarity hit him so hard it made his chest ache. His brain short-circuited for a fraction of a second.

Alisson did not flinch under his intense, burning stare. She tilted her chin up, a cold, mocking smile playing on her lips.

"My apologies, Mr. Yates," Alisson said, her voice dripping with arrogant disdain. "I clearly lack discipline in raising my children. I am sorry they interrupted your... 'wedding of the century'."