"What are you doing here, Crescentia? You should have told us you were also invited. Then we could have come together," Magnus said with a smile that stretched unnaturally wide—wider than a joker's grin.
It was the kind of smile that looked like it had been painted on. The sight of it made Crescentia's skin crawl.
She met his gaze, her own smile equally polite, but laced with venom. "I could have, but after what Lucian pulled at my parents' funeral—and the way you didn't even bother to call to check up on me—I figured you were angry at me, Uncle."
The smile slipped off Magnus's face like oil from water. Gone was the fake warmth. His eyes turned to steel as he stared at her—cold, hard, and unblinking.
Victoria immediately stepped in, her tone sharp and reprimanding. "Crescentia, don't speak to your uncle like that. He tried to call you, but your phone was switched off."
"Of course," Crescentia replied calmly, eyes never leaving Victoria's as tension crackled between them like an electric current. She didn't bother saying anything else. Her silence was deliberate.
Loud and accusing.
For a moment, everything fell still.
Then Rafael stepped in to ease the tension. "Excuse us," he said quickly, gesturing to Magnus and Damian. "We'll just go have a word."
As they walked away, Victoria, Juliette, and Lucian seized their chance. Like vultures descending on fresh meat, they pulled Crescentia aside, toward a dimly lit corridor away from the laughter and clinking glasses of the party.
As Crescentia was dragged along, she caught sight of Lucian's parents. For a fleeting second, she thought they'd acknowledge her. They didn't. Instead, they turned away, pretending she was nothing but air—invisible and unimportant.
Her chest tightened, pain slicing through her—but she swallowed it, burying it beneath the icy calm that had become her armor.
Once they reached the quiet corner, Victoria dropped the facade entirely. Her smile vanished. Her eyes sharpened like blades.
"What do you think you're doing coming to this party?" she hissed. Her voice was low, lethal. Her perfectly painted red lips curled in fury. "What are your plans?"
Crescentia tilted her head slightly, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Plans?"
Juliette scoffed, folding her arms. Her body trembled, voice shaking like she'd just witnessed a betrayal. "Don't act innocent. You lied about dating Damian Lorenzo. And now you're here. At his grandmother's birthday party."
Crescentia let out a soft chuckle, amused by their panic. "You really think Damian would bring someone like me to a party this important if we weren't dating?"
She watched their expressions twist with disbelief, rage, and something else—fear. It was almost funny.
Lucian's jaw clenched so tightly it looked like it might shatter. "That's a lie," he spat, voice seething with fury.
Crescentia shrugged casually. "Believe what you want. I'm done wasting my breath on people who've already decided what version of the truth suits them."
Then her gaze dropped to Lucian's shoulder—the one that had taken the brunt of Damian's wrath last time. Her lips curled slightly as she looked back at him.
"But if any of you try anything tonight," she said, her voice smooth as silk but sharp as glass, "You'll regret it."
Lucian visibly swallowed, the memory of that pain flashing behind his eyes.
With that, she turned and walked away, ignoring the daggers they were glaring into her back.
She contemplated going back to Damian's grandmother. But the memory of his sister and mother's icy stares made her pause. She'd just survived round one with her own toxic relatives. She wasn't ready for round two with his.
As she debated her next move, a soft voice caught her off guard.
"Crescentia, right?" someone said close to her, brushing against her shoulder. She turned sharply.
A brunette stood there, elegant and poised—Sebastian's wife.
"Emily," she introduced herself.
'I know,' Crescentia thought but didn't say.
Emily leaned in, pressing light kisses to both of Crescentia's cheeks in the typical elite fashion.
"I have to say," Emily began, caramel-brown eyes twinkling, "I love how you're handling them. It's… satisfying."
Crescentia blinked, confused. "Who?"
Emily tilted her head slightly toward the staircase, where Damian's family stood like royalty. "Them. You didn't give them a chance to intimidate you. That was… beautiful."
Crescentia's frown deepened. Of all people, Emily was the last she'd expected support from. She remembered seeing her at that tense family dinner and they hadn't even exchanged two full sentences.
"You liked that?" Crescentia asked cautiously.
Emily rolled her eyes, her tone dry. "Of course. They think they can walk over everyone because of their name. It's nice to see someone stand up to them for once."
"Then why are you still married into the family?"
Emily's smile stretched, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It's a long story."
Just then, her expression shifted.
"Oh, will you look at that?" she said, nodding behind Crescentia.
She turned—and there he was.
Damian.
He moved through the crowd like a storm in a designer suit. Tall, powerful, lethal. The people near him practically shrank by comparison. His cold, dark eyes locked onto Crescentia the moment she turned.
Her back straightened instinctively.
The way he looked at her—like she was both a puzzle he couldn't solve and a flame he couldn't stay away from—made her breath catch in her throat.
"What are you talking to my girlfriend about?" he asked, voice low and laced with possession, never once looking at Emily.
Emily arched an eyebrow. "Relax. I was just praising her for putting your brother in his place. It brought me so much joy."
Damian didn't hesitate. "She just did something you can't."
The silence that followed was sharp. Crescentia tensed, glancing at Emily, expecting fury.
But Emily only forced a tight, practiced smile. "You're a jerk," she muttered before walking away, her heels clicking like punctuation marks of their own.
Crescentia turned to him, frowning. "Did you have to talk to her like that?"
He raised an eyebrow, amused. "What now? Don't tell me you're getting attached after one compliment?"