Chapter 4 - The Ice Baptism
The man clutched his burning face, his eyes wide with profound, paralyzing shock.
The mother didn't spare him a single second glance.
She spun around, her eyes locking onto the large, silver champagne bucket resting on the edge of the dessert table.
Condensation dripped rapidly down its curved metallic sides, forming a small puddle on the white linen tablecloth.
She grabbed the thick silver handles with both hands.
The ice inside groaned and shifted, a heavy, freezing, crystalline mass.
She lifted it with a terrifying strength born of pure, distilled adrenaline.
The grandmother in the gold dress raised her hands, her heavily mascaraed eyes bulging in terror.
The mother inverted the heavy silver bucket.
A cascade of freezing water, melted frost, and jagged, solid ice cubes poured downward in excruciating slow motion.
The ice struck the older woman’s perfectly styled silver hair, matting it instantly flat against her skull.
The freezing water flooded the expensive metallic gold sequins, turning the shimmering fabric dark, heavy, and suffocating.
Thick cubes of ice bounced off her diamond choker, clattering loudly and sharply against the marble floor.
The grandmother gasped, a high, reedy sound of absolute shock, her arms flailing wildly as the breath was knocked from her lungs.
The mother didn't stop there.
She dropped the empty silver bucket, letting it clang loudly against the wood.
She stepped forward, planting both hands flat against the older woman’s soaking wet collarbones.
She shoved with all her remaining weight.
The grandmother stumbled backward in her ruined dress, her expensive heels catching on the scattered ice cubes.
She collapsed hard onto the floor, her jewelry clanking against the wet marble.
"Neither of you belongs near my child!"
The mother’s voice didn't shake.
May you like
It didn't waver.
It dominated every single corner of the cavernous hall.
