Chapter 2 Sometimes the loudest battles...

Chapter Two

"Sometimes the loudest battles are fought behind polite smiles and glittering chandeliers."

The ballroom shimmered with light, crystal chandeliers hanging like frozen stars over a sea of elegance. Laughter rippled through the air, mingling with the soft strains of classical music from the string quartet in the corner.

Elena had never seen anything like it.

She stood at the top of the grand staircase, her fingers tightening around the delicate clutch in her hand. The dress Alexander's assistant had chosen for her shimmered like liquid midnight, the satin hugging her figure modestly but with undeniable grace. Her hair was swept into soft waves, a pair of borrowed diamond earrings catching the light each time she moved.

From a distance, she imagined she looked the part - the billionaire's wife, poised and untouchable.

Inside, her heart raced like a caged animal.

Across the room, Alexander was already surrounded by the city's elite: men in tailored suits, women dripping in jewels, conversations carried out in carefully measured tones. Not one face was familiar, yet Elena could feel their eyes flickering toward her, curiosity and suspicion lurking beneath every glance.

That's her. The runaway bride... no, wait - doesn't she look different? Is it possible...?

The whispers were unspoken, but she felt them just the same.

She was about to descend the stairs when Alexander's gaze found hers.

For a moment, the room seemed to fall away. The weight of the night, the murmurs of strangers, even the knot of nerves in her stomach - it all dulled beneath the intensity of his stare. His expression betrayed nothing, yet there was something in his eyes that steadied her.

A silent message.

You're mine. I won't let them touch you.

It wasn't affection. Not tenderness. But it was a kind of shield, and for tonight, she'd take it.

Elena made her way down the steps, her posture straight despite the tremor in her hands. She reached Alexander's side just as the chairman of some board or another was finishing a story neither of them cared about.

Without missing a beat, Alexander slid an arm around Elena's waist, pulling her close in a move so effortlessly practiced it left no room for doubt.

"Darling," he murmured, leaning close enough for only her to hear, "you're late."

Elena forced a smile, tilting her head toward him. "Fashionably so, I believe."

Alexander's lips twitched in the faintest hint of amusement - not quite a smile, but something softer than she'd seen before.

"Well played," he murmured, his hand resting lightly at the small of her back.

The chairman cleared his throat, clearly eager to claim the billionaire's attention once more. But Elena caught a flicker of surprise in his eyes as he took in the scene - Alexander Kane, notoriously cold and unattached, standing beside his radiant wife as though she were the only woman in the room.

Good, Elena thought. Let them wonder.

The evening unfolded in a blur of introductions, polite conversations laced with veiled questions, and too many glasses of sparkling water held in trembling fingers. Elena played her part well, leaning into Alexander's whispered cues, offering kind words where expected, and feigning amusement at things that weren't the least bit funny.

By the third round of small talk, her head ached and her cheeks burned from forced smiles.

And yet, every time she faltered - every time the weight of unfamiliar eyes pressed a little too hard - Alexander was there. A steady hand at her back, a murmured word in her ear, anchoring her in a storm of silk and crystal.

It was strange.

He was a stranger, cold and impossible to read.

But tonight, he was also her shield.

And as she stood beneath the chandelier's glow, Elena Carter realized something unsettling.

This charade might break her heart long before it saved her brother's life.

Would you like me to continue with their first real private conversation after the gala - maybe on the penthouse balcony where, for the first time, their walls crack just a little?