73

Grey

"How dare you!"

The fury in Moore’s voice sent a chill down my spine.

I hadn’t expected this.

Not from her.

The murmurs from the crowd were growing, their whispers carrying an undeniable excitement. It hit me like a punch to the gut—Moore had planned this. Or maybe she hadn’t, but either way, she had turned the moment to her advantage almost instantly.

Nora and I had underestimated her.

Badly.

When we received the invitation two days ago to Lucien Giordano’s exclusive luncheon in London, we had been skeptical. But declining an invitation from him wasn’t an option.

It wasn’t until we arrived that we realized the mistake.

Lucien had lured us here.

And Moore… Moore had been his secret weapon.

Seeing her enter with him, head held high, dressed like she belonged in his world, had sent Nora into a fit. She had called Moore every name in the book, whispering venom into my ear about how it must be a trick, how Lucien was just playing some pathetic game, and how badly we might have fallen for it.

And she was right.

we had walked straight into a trap.

Nora was clutching her cheek now, eyes wide with shock from the slap Moore had just delivered.

The sting must have been brutal.

"What in the world, I didn’t even—" Nora gasped, voice trembling.

Before she could finish, Moore’s hand swung again.

The slap cracked through the air like a whip.

Another collective gasp rippled through the room. Cameras flashed, capturing every moment, every angle, every ounce of humiliation.

"You will shut that hole you call a mouth, you silly bitch!" Moore spat, her eyes blazing with fury.

Nora stumbled back, the second slap knocking whatever dignity she had left straight to the floor.

My hands clenched into fists as I watched the scene unfold.

Moore turned to me next, and for the first time since this started, I took an involuntary step back.

This wasn’t the same Moore I had once known.

Gone was the naive woman I had manipulated, the one I had humiliated, used, discarded. That woman had been helpless.

This woman?

She was dangerous.

My gaze darted across the room, searching for Lucien, waiting for him to put a stop to this madness.

He didn’t.

He wasn’t even watching.

The bastard was standing with a group of influential men, pretending to be engaged in conversation, but I knew better. They were watching. All of them.

And they were enjoying the show.

Lucien had given Moore free rein.

He wanted her to do this.

He let her humiliate us.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

Moore tilted her head slightly, her lips curling into a smirk. "What’s the matter, Grey? You suddenly have nothing to say?"

I gritted my teeth. "You think this will change anything?" I spat. "You think throwing a tantrum in public will make you any less pathetic?"

Moore laughed—an actual laugh, low and mocking. "Pathetic?" She stepped closer, her eyes burning with something almost… amused. "Oh, Grey, the only pathetic one here is you."

The cameras clicked furiously, capturing every second of my downfall.

And for the hundredth time since the moment I had Moore been thrown out from our home, I was losing.

Then it hit me. Lucien had invited me here so Moore could have her revenge.

I had always thought Lucien despised her. He had shown it time and time again since their marriage. It was obvious he only married her to get back at her for rejecting him all those years ago. But now? Now, he was letting her have the upper hand.

“Aren't you going to do anything?” Nora spat, her eyes glaring daggers at me. “She hit me twice, and all you do is stare?”

Nora’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to her, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Of course, I wanted to do something. I wanted to ask Moore what the hell she was playing at—why she thought she had the right to slap my Woman. But I couldn’t.

Because for the first time, I saw something in Moore that unsettled me.

The fury in her eyes was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was raw, unrestrained, and damn near terrifying. My heart slammed against my ribs, and for a split second, I forgot how to breathe.

“You want him to do what? Hit me? Girl I'm just returning what you started. You hit me first.”

But Nora wasn’t one to wallow in humiliation.

“What are you saying, Moore? When did my hand even touch your cheeks?”

Her voice wavered slightly, a rare crack in her confidence. I sensed she was close to breaking. And that was when I remembered—Moore was the enemy.

“Moore—”

“You will shut up, or I’ll do it for you!” She spun to face me fully, her index finger stabbing toward my chest. “Now you want to defend your slut, huh? Where were you when she hit me? But now that I did the same, you're suddenly ready to step in?”

I stiffened. I wasn’t even going to touch her. I wasn’t stupid enough to lay a hand on Lucien’s wife, not when I had no idea how he’d react. The last thing I needed was to piss him off and drive my already crumbling business into the ground.

“I wasn’t going to—”

“Oh, you weren’t?” Nora snapped. “She just hit me, and you’re going to stand there and do nothing?”

I exhaled sharply, lowering my voice. “Nora, remember where we are right now. The last thing I want is to piss Lucien off.”

She scoffed. “Oh, please. You can clearly see that he doesn’t give a shit about her. Whatever this is, it’s just him punishing you for punishing her first.”

She turned back to Moore, her voice dripping with disdain. “And you… you’re just a pathetic slut desperate for revenge. You had to throw yourself at him just to spite us—”

The slap rang through the air before she could finish.

For the third time that night, Moore struck her. This time, the force sent Nora stumbling to the floor.

A murmur rippled through the room, drawing attention. Lucien’s elite weren’t even pretending to be uninterested anymore. All eyes were on Moore.

I had enough. Nora is with child.

I stormed toward her, anger pulsing through my veins.

“Isn’t that enough already? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

My hand lifted instinctively, not to hit her, but to make her stop—just stop.

Before I could do anything, a firm grip caught my wrist, halting me mid-motion.

I looked up and immediately recognized him. Lucien’s man. The same one who had stopped me at Moore’s wedding.

But he wasn’t the one who spoke.

Lucien was.

“How dare you try to hit my wife in my presence?”