Chapter 7 - The Grand Gala
By the seventh month of my pregnancy, the shadow of the Vance family reached a critical tipping point.
The annual Maritime Logistics Gala was scheduled for Friday evening at the Grand Regency Hotel—the very place where Cassian and I had met seven months prior. It was the premier gathering of high-society figures, federal shipping regulators, and political donors.
Julianna Vance had leaked false stories to the press, claiming Cassian was holding a young woman captive at his estate to force a fraudulent heir claim before his thirty-fifth birthday.
The corporate board of Rowe Global was in chaos. Shares were dropping.
“We don't have to go, Clara,” Cassian said as we sat in his private dressing room. He was adjusting his onyx cufflinks, looking at me in the mirror with deep concern. “I can handle the board without you. I won't put you in front of those wolves.”
I stood up, wearing a custom navy silk evening gown that hugged my pregnant curves with breathtaking elegance. A delicate diamond necklace—a gift from Cassian that morning—rested against my collarbone.
“Julianna thinks I’m a timid little mouse from the cleaning crew,” I said, looking straight into Cassian’s dark eyes through the mirror. “It’s time to show her that the mother of your child doesn't hide in the dark.”
Cassian stood up, a slow, fiercely proud smile spreading across his handsome face. He walked over, picked up my gloved hand, and pressed a deep kiss against my knuckles.
“You are magnificent, Clara Rowe,” he murmured.
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of his last name attached to mine, though we had never spoken of marriage.
Twenty minutes later, our bulletproof limousine pulled up to the red carpet outside the Grand Regency Hotel. Hundreds of camera flashes exploded like lightning against the dark rain-slicked glass.
Cassian stepped out first, extending his hand to guide me down the steps.
The reporters went wild, screaming questions over the security barricades:
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“Mr. Rowe! Is this the woman from the rumors?!” “Is she the mother of the Rowe heir?!” “Are the Vance family allegations true?!”
Cassian didn't say a word. He wrapped his arm securely around my waist, keeping his palm resting proudly over my swollen stomach as we walked through the grand glass doors of the ballroom.
