Chapter 2: The Tablet No One Could Identify
Chapter 2: The Tablet No One Could Identify
The silence stretched across the ballroom.
Nearly two hundred guests stood motionless.
No one returned to dancing.
No one touched the champagne.
Gideon looked at the white tablet frozen on Tessa's phone one last time.
Then he turned to the wedding planner.
"Lock every exit."
Several guests exchanged nervous glances.
Marianne frowned.
"Gideon..."
"I'm not accusing anyone."
His voice remained calm.
"But until we know what that was, no one leaves."
The planner nodded immediately.
Within seconds, hotel security quietly closed the ballroom doors.
A few guests complained.
Most did not.
They had seen enough to understand this was no longer an ordinary reception.
Gideon picked up the untouched glass from the floor using a linen napkin.
"Call the police."
"And call poison control."
Tessa's eyes widened.
"You believe me?"
He looked at the red mark forming across her cheek.
May you like
"You had nothing to gain by embarrassing yourself in front of two hundred strangers."
"You had everything to lose."
