Then Cecilia straightened, her presence towering like a storm about to break. Her gaze locked onto Lady Willow, and though her face was composed, her eyes were blazing with deadly warning. The crowd could feel it the tension rising like a knife in the air.
"This," Cecilia said, her voice low but cutting through the silence with lethal precision, "will be the first and the last time you dare disrespect me or my daughter." She took a step forward, each word growing sharper, more dangerous. "I let this slide only because of Mark. Only because of him am I choosing to remain calm right now. But make no mistake, Lady Willow if not for Mark, I would've dealt with you mercilessly." Her tone dropped, heavy with unshaken resolve. "So mercilessly that every time you see me, you would remember to run."
