96 Rejection

While the guests waited with bated breath to check the reaction of the two VIPs of the evening, Demetri gracefully guided her in front of Grandfather to wish him.  A sense of unease hung heavy in the air, like an impending storm on the horizon. Gabe had stopped Arabelle from charging forward, but Elijah Frost was not someone who could be stopped.

The old man regarded the couple with a gaze that bore no overt hostility yet dripped with unspoken disapproval. His nod of acknowledgement to Demetri was measured, and yet his aged features betrayed no hint of his true sentiments while his eyes passed over Nora as if she did not exist. The room remained silent, but the tension was palpable, like a taut thread ready to snap.