Chapter Six

For a second, Liam just stared at Ethan, his mind entirely blank as the gears jammed in his head. But then that familiar, ugly pride flared up, screaming at him to push back. He looked at Ethan, eyed the massive security guards cutting off his path, and forced out a loud, mocking laugh. It rang out across the quiet rooftop, sounding incredibly strained and defensive.

"Introduce who?" Liam scoffed, shaking his head as if the whole setup was just a pathetic joke. "Mr. Vance, you cannot be serious right now. Introduce *her* to me? I've lived with this woman for three whole years. Trust me, I know exactly who and what she is."

He took a muddy step closer to the guards, dropping his voice into a crude, confidential tone. He was desperately trying to play the 'boys' club' card, appealing to Ethan as one wealthy, powerful man to another, entirely intent on stripping away whatever shred of dignity Elena had left.

"You honestly wouldn't believe the things she used to do for me," Liam whispered, a smug, low-class smirk twisting his face, completely oblivious to how utterly vulgar he sounded in a place like this. "I know her inside and out, Mr. Vance. She's not the high-society lady she's pretending to be tonight. She used to serve me hand and foot. Hell, she sucked my dick so hard I still think about it. At the end of the day, she’s just a submissive little housewife who knows how to please a man with actual money."

Behind him, Chloe let out a sharp, venomous giggle, a sudden rush of cruel satisfaction washing over her as Liam completely dragged Elena's name through the gutter.

The silence that followed on the VIP deck was absolute. It was deafening.

The temperature on the terrace seemed to plunge below freezing in an instant. Axel didn't just step forward this time; his entire frame shifted, leaning in like an avalanche ready to fall, his fists clenching until the knuckles visibly popped. Tinsley stopped swirling her drink, her face hardening from bored amusement into pure, lethal fury. Even the two security guards quietly shifted their weight, their hands moving toward their jackets, just waiting for a single nod to throw Liam off the edge of the building.

But Elena didn't even flinch. She stood perfectly still behind Ethan's broad shoulders. Hearing Liam use such incredibly cheap, desperate filth to degrade her didn't make her cry. It didn't make her want to hide. If anything, it just brought total clarity. It was final proof that he was a thoroughly disgusting, small-minded creature who didn't deserve a single second of her past, or her future.

Ethan’s smile didn't reach his eyes anymore. It twisted into a cold, genuinely terrifying smirk. Without breaking eye contact with Liam, he slowly reached out and handed his crystal glass to Tinsley.

"You really are a pathetic piece of work, Sterling," Ethan said, his voice dropping into a dangerously quiet, smooth register that made the hairs on the back of Liam's neck immediately stand up. "You think because you bought a house and signed a piece of paper, you owned her. You think your cheap, locker-room vulgarity gives you some kind of leverage up here."

Ethan took a slow, heavy step forward, the sheer weight of his presence causing Liam’s confident smirk to falter. He was just about to map out exactly who Elena was when she immediately cut him off.

"Ethan, don't."

Elena's voice rang out across the terrace, surprisingly sharp, steady, and commanding. She stepped out from behind her brother, putting herself right between the two men. She looked straight at Liam, her face a mask of total indifference.

"There's no need to waste your breath bantering words with him," Elena said coldly, her calm eyes locking onto Liam’s tense, sweaty face. "We are divorced."

The sheer simplicity of it seemed to freeze the air. Liam opened his mouth to snap back, but she merely raised a hand, silencing him with an effortless authority he had never seen from her before.

"We have separate lives now," she continued, her tone completely level and conversational, yet cutting like ice. "Whatever you want to believe about my past, and whatever trash you want to say about me tonight, it's no longer my problem. You wanted your freedom, Liam. You got it this afternoon. Walk away."

Liam stood entirely frozen, his chest heaving as the absolute control she was displaying completely unraveled him. He looked at her flawless gown, her posture, and the way the city's most untouchable billionaires were flanking her.

Behind her, Ethan, Axel, and Tinsley all stared at her, utterly astonished that she was still trying to hide her identity. Axel’s jaw went slack, and Ethan’s hand stayed frozen in mid-air, his face a mix of disbelief and frustration. They couldn't comprehend why she was still keeping the secret—why, after the vile filth this man had just spat on her birthday, she was still refusing to let the heavy weight of the Vance name crush him into the pavement.

Chloe, completely misreading the room as usual, let out a shaky, triumphant breath. "See, Liam? She’s a fraud! She’s stopping him because she knows it’s all a lie! She doesn’t want you to expose her little sugar-daddy arrangement!"

Liam let out a harsh, dry laugh, his voice grating against the tense silence of the rooftop. The alcohol and his wounded ego had completely taken the wheel now, blinding him to the sheer danger radiating from the people in front of him.

"So that’s what this is?" Liam scoffed, gesturing wildly between Elena and the Vance brothers. "You’re just a slut for these men now? Unbelievable. These guys should be my business partners—we should be talking strategy—but you’re just a slut lusting after them, aren't you? You couldn't wait to jump into a bigger bank account."

Chloe smirked, crossing her arms as she watched Liam spew his venom, fully believing they had won the psychological warfare.

"You've lost your tongue, haven't you?" Chloe sneered, stepping up right beside Liam. She tossed her hair back, a nasty, triumphant grin plastered across her face as she looked Elena up and down. "No wonder Liam left you. Just a cheap slut."

The words had barely left Chloe's mouth when Tinsley’s face contorted into pure, lethal fury.

"You miserable little bitch," Tinsley hissed, completely snapping.

Losing every shred of her high-society composure, Tinsley threw her cocktail glass to the stone floor, where it shattered into a hundred glittering pieces. She lunged forward, her hand raised, entirely intent on slapping the smug, pathetic look right off Chloe’s face. Chloe shrieked, instantly cowering behind Liam’s arm as Tinsley charged.

But before Tinsley’s hand could connect, Elena caught her cousin's wrist in mid-air. Her grip was remarkably firm, halting Tinsley instantly.

"Tinsley," Elena said softly, her voice carrying a calm, unnatural weight. "She isn't worth ruining your manicure over."

Every single person on the rooftop completely froze, staring at Elena in absolute shock. Ethan and Axel’s bodies were locked rigid, their muscles coiled tight as they waited on absolute edge. Because Elena had explicitly asked them to hold back, they were letting her handle it—but they never expected what happened next.

All of a sudden, Elena clapped her hands together.

The sharp, crisp sound echoed loudly across the open rooftop. A second later, she started laughing. It wasn't a fake, nervous giggle, nor was it a cry of despair—it was a bright, genuinely amused laugh that rang out under the midnight sky, completely shattering the dark, suffocating tension of the terrace.

Everyone was completely stunned.

Liam’s arrogant smirk instantly faltered, his drunken brain completely scrambling to process the reaction. Chloe peeked out from behind Liam's shoulder, her jaw dropping as her venomous satisfaction completely evaporated into utter confusion. Even Ethan, Axel, and Tinsley stared at her, totally bewildered by her sudden burst of amusement.

Elena wiped a tear of genuine laughter from the corner of her eye, looking at the two of them as if they were nothing more than low-budget clowns performing a thoroughly entertaining comedy routine.

"Oh, Liam," Elena said, her conversational tone smooth, steady, and dripping with a terrifyingly calm confidence. "You and your little friend really are a masterpiece of comedy."