Some Lines Cannot Be Crossed Chapter 06

Some Lines Cannot Be Crossed Chapter 06

Lorenzo stumbled forward. “Ms. Castillo! I didn’t know! I swear, I had no idea who you were! If I’d known, I never

would’ve…”

“Quiet. I held up one finger.

His mouth snapped shut.

“You didn’t know?” My voice sliced through the heavy air. Then let me spell it out for you. Let me spell it out for

everyone here, exactly what your fiancée did.”

I turned to face the sea of stunned faces. My voice stayed low, but it carried to every corner.

“On Monday, I asked her to help me pack for a trip. She threw my clothes on the floor and told me, a childless old

woman, not to boss her around. Then she shoved me.”

A collective gasp echoed beneath the vaulted ceiling.

“I fell. My back… it’s an old injury. It gave out. I was on the ground. Defenseless.”

Lorenzo’s face twisted with horror. “I didn’t know…”

“She didn’t help me up. She took my phone. She locked me in a closet. She used my phone to message the Family Office that I was too ill to attend the assembly. Then she cut off the water. She stomped on my hand. She told me to see

how long I could last.”

Disgust rippled through the room, whispers hissing between the pews. “How horrible…” “How could she…?”

My eyes found Janice.

I had a backup phone. She found it and smashed it in front of me.” My voice didn’t waver. “She called me a sad. lonely old woman, pretending I mattered. She said my life meant nothing.”

“You…” Lorenzo stared at her, his voice shaking. “You did all of this?”

Janice lifted her head, tears streaking through ruined makeup. “I… I didn’t know! She never said! I thought she was

just a tenant! If I knew she was your family’s Consigliere, I never would’ve…”

“So.” I cut in, my voice ice-cold, “So if I weren’t the Consigliere… if I were just some frail old tenant with no family.

what you did would’ve been okay? You’re telling me it’s fine to shove me, lock me up, starve me, beat me, and destroy

everything I had?”

She opened her mouth. No sound came out

“Answer the question Each word fell like a shard of ice “Does a person’s humanity, their right to safety and dignity.

depend on their title? Must a Castillo elder prove her worth to a housekeeper?”

Silence was my only answer.

Lorenzo’s gaze swung between her and me.

“You…” he whispered, his eyes locked on Janice. Then, suddenly, his hand lashed out.

Smack.

Janice’s head snapped to the side. She collapsed onto the marble floor, hands clutching her face.

“Lorenzo, please…”

“Shut up!” he roared, his voice ragged. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You assaulted the Consigliere! And I

was going to marry you! You’ve disgraced this family!”

Smack

‘A backhanded blow this time. It sent her sprawling flat on her back, a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of

her mouth.

He whirled to face the congregation, chest heaving. This wedding is over! Done! I, Lorenzo Castill, want nothing to

do with this woman. Nothing!”

The cathedral erupted. “Cancel it!”

“It should be canceled!”

“She got what she deserved! That piece of trash…”

“No… please, no…” Janice wailed, crawling toward his feet. “Don’t do this… I’m sorry… I’ll do anything…”

Leo stepped in front of me. He looked down at Janice, not shred of mercy in his gaze.

“You assaulted and falsely imprisoned a council elder. You are hereby banished from all Castillo territory. You’re

barred from every property, every business, and every restaurant under our protection.”

He paused. Furthermore, you will be turned over to the authorities. You’ll face charges for false imprisonment,

assault on an elder, and theft.”

“No! You can’t!” she shrieked. They’ll kill me in prison! Please!”

No one responded. Two hulking men in black suits hauled her to her feet

“Let go of me! Lorenzo’ Baby, help me! Please!” She thrashed wildly

Lorenzo kept his back to her, his shoulders rigid. He said nothing. Her screams faded as she was dragged down the

atsle out of the cathedral, a single discordant, dying note in the sacred space.

Silence descended once more. Every eye was on me.

‘My apologies for disrupting this wedding.” I said to the guests.

A chorus of fawning denials rose in response.

“No. Consigliere, not at all!”

‘She deserved it!”

I gave a small nod, then turned my attention to Lorenzo. He stood with his head bowed, not daring to meet my eyes.

“Lorenzo.”

He flinched as if I’d struck him. “Ms. Castillo…”

Do you know what you did wrong?”

He looked up, his eyes rimmed red. “I… I didn’t vet her properly. I was deceived. I let her hurt you. I’m so sorry…”

“And?” I pressed.

He blinked, confused. “And…?”

I looked him straight in the eye. “You said. ‘An old tenant? Who is she? She can’t cause trouble.””

All the blood drained from his face. “I… I didn’t mean it like that…”

Those words,” I said quietly, “disappointed me more than her lies.”

He dropped to his knees. “Ms. Castillo! I was wrong! I didn’t know it was you!”

“So.” I cut in, my tone a scalpel. “So the problem isn’t what you thought, it’s who you aimed it at? Thinking an

ordinary person doesn’t deserve basic respect is fine by you? It’s only a crime when that person is me?”

He had no words.

“You hold a low rank in this family’s hierarchy.” I continued, my voice cutting through the silence “So you look down

on those you consider beneath you You mistake power for worth. That mindset is a cancer It rots a family from the

inside

Lorenzo pressed his forehead against the cold marble. I was wrong I was so, so wrong

I didn’t respond I looked at Leo “Our meeting?”

“It begins in one hour,” he said.

As Leo and Mateo stepped forward to escort me out. Lorenzo’s choked voice followed us. “Ms. Castillo.. please… forgive

me…

I glanced back. “Forgiveness? Maybe someday.”

“But not today. You’ll stay right here. You’ll sit with what you’ve done. When you finally understand how to treat

someone who can do absolutely nothing for you, then, and only then, you can get up.”

I turned and left the heir of the Castillo family weeping alone on the floor of his canceled wedding.