Chapter 1 - The Shattered Glass
Mariana’s cheek burned. The resounding crack of Beatriz Alcazar’s palm against her skin echoed through the grand foyer. The silver tray slipped from Mariana’s trembling hands, crystal glasses shattering into sharp fragments across the cold marble floor.
She sank to her knees, instantly wrapping her arms around her three terrified daughters—Sofia, Maya, and Lily. They clung to her beige cardigan, burying their faces to hide from their grandmother's wrath.
"Three girls cannot preserve our family name!" Beatriz shrieked, her face twisted in aristocratic disdain, the diamonds at her ears catching the bright chandelier light.
Before the mansion's guards could step forward, a deep voice cut through the tension. Leo stepped into the light. A man whose formidable presence usually meant silent, lethal security for the Alcazar empire, he wore a dark, unbuttoned shirt, a silver cross resting against his muscular chest.
"Touch her again," Leo’s voice was dangerously calm, "and this mansion belongs to someone else by morning."
Beatriz glared, momentarily stunned before her fury returned. She pointed a trembling finger toward the door. "Get them out!"
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Leo turned his back on the matriarch. "The Alcazar family has lost my protection."
He shrugged off his heavy black coat, draping it gently over Mariana’s shaking shoulders, shielding her and the girls. He helped her to her feet. "Pack nothing. All four of you are coming with me."
