Chapter 5 - The Toast and the Terror
The string quartet faded into the background as the microphone at the head table screeched with feedback.
Uncle Arthur—a booming, red-faced real estate magnate who had consumed approximately four gin and tonics before the salads were cleared—tapped the mic and stood up, raising his glass high.
"Alright, folks! Quiet down, quiet down!" Arthur bellowed, his voice echoing across the grand ballroom. "Before we dive into the filet mignon, I want to say a few words about our beautiful bride, Chloe, and her wonderful fiancé, Derek, who is quite literally the best thing to happen to our family since tax-free municipal bonds!"
Polite, rolling laughter rippled through the room.
Sadi stared down at her water glass, swirling the ice cubes, feeling the familiar, hollow ache of being the background character in her own family's narrative.
Beside her, Roman noticed the slight tension in her shoulders. Without a word, he slid his hand across the white tablecloth, turning his palm upward.
Sadi hesitated for a fraction of a second, then slid her hand into his. His fingers closed around hers, swallowing her cold hand in a grip that was warm, steady, and immovable. The contrast between her delicate bones and his massive, scarred palm was stark, but it grounded her instantly.
"As we look around this room tonight," Uncle Arthur continued, gesturing broadly with his drink, "we see family, we see lifelong friends, and we see... well, we see love conquering all. Look at Chloe and Derek. True soulmates. And hey, it’s great to see everyone here tonight. Even old flames finding new beginnings in the back row!"
Arthur chuckled, pointing his drink directly at table four.
Every head at tables one through twelve turned in unison. All eyes locked onto Sadi and Roman.
Derek puffed out his chest, flashing another smug, patrician smile, basking in the spotlight. Chloe ducked her head, blushing furiously.
"That’s right!" Arthur boomed, misinterpreting the silence. "Look at Sadi over there! Finally brought a mystery man all the way from the city! Tell us, big guy—what’s your line of work? Lawyer? Doctor? Or are you just another one of Derek’s Wall Street sharks?"
The entire ballroom fell completely, suffocatingly silent.
Evelyn Miller, sitting three tables away, buried her face in her hands, bracing for a catastrophic social disaster.
Roman didn't flinch. He didn't drop Sadi’s hand.
Instead, he slowly stood up to his full, towering height of 6’3”, pulling Sadi up gently beside him so that the entire room had no choice but to look at them.
"I’m in logistics, Arthur," Roman’s deep, gravelly voice rolled effortlessly across the ballroom, carrying the weight of a courtroom judge. "I manage complex supply chains, resolve hostile acquisitions, and ensure that unruly assets are permanently removed from the equation."
A few polite, confused chuckles rippled through the room, though nobody quite understood the dark, literal double meaning behind his words.
"And as for Sadi," Roman continued, turning his head to look down at her, his storm-cloud eyes softening just enough for only her to see the genuine, fierce devotion burning beneath the surface. "She is the only asset in this city that I refuse to let go of. And anyone who has ever failed to recognize her true value simply lacked the vision to see what was standing right in front of them."
He raised his crystal glass toward the head table.
"To Chloe and Derek. May your marriage last longer than Derek’s previous judgment."
The silence that followed was so loud it hummed in the air.
Then, slowly, Uncle Arthur cleared his throat, raised his glass awkwardly, and muttered, "Right... well, cheers to that!"
As Roman sat back down, pulling Sadi down beside him and keeping his large hand firmly locked over hers beneath the table, the ballroom erupted back into nervous, frantic chatter.
May you like
Derek looked like he had just swallowed a live grenade.
And Sadi, for the first time in her twenty-eight years of life, felt like the queen of the world.
