Chapter 108: The Last Thing I Do for You
Caesar Vassinger sat behind his polished obsidian desk, a thick folder open in front of him, the report, printed on the high-quality paper, stamped with a seal he hadn’t seen since Palatine.
House Fitzgeralt.
The only sound in the office was the rustle of the report’s pages and the soft, too-frequent breath of the woman curled defensively on the sofa in front of him.
Vanessa crossed her legs with deliberate elegance, hands folded in her lap like this was still a salon, not a tribunal. Her coat was flawless. Her expression even more so—poised, composed, the perfect victim of some imagined slight.
Caesar didn’t look up as he flipped to the final page.
"You knew who he was," he said quietly.
Vanessa blinked, feigning confusion. "I—"
He closed the folder with a soft snap.
"You knew he was Lucas D’Argente. Heir to the D’Argente fortune. Legally wedded to Trevor Fitzgeralt. A man the King of Saha personally cleared for a strategic alliance. And still, you walked into a palace garden, insulted him to his face, and accused him of sleeping his way into influence, while four women stood behind you like you were issuing a challenge to the Empire."
Vanessa stiffened. "I wasn’t challenging anyone. I was—he just—he’s not what people say he is."
Caesar finally met her gaze.
She was trying her best to look innocent, big brown eyes rounded just so, the same wide-eyed performance she’d used since first grade to excuse every tantrum, every manipulation, every carefully placed knife behind someone else’s back.