Claimed by the Crown Heir novel Chapter 48

"Nolan, the beauty I was just talking about—that's her. Is she Ace's woman?"

Hadn't everyone said Ace didn't care for women? Since when was he keeping a girl this breathtakingly gorgeous?

Alistair cast a flat glance at Caleb. "This is your family's hotel. Go handle it."

Caleb instantly understood. Ace wanted to protect the older Grant daughter.

"I got it!"

Holding his wine glass, he took long strides down the stairs toward the main hall.

Downstairs, Manager Warren had already summoned security and was preparing to throw Vanessa out.

"Manager Warren, it seems you've started making up your own rules for how to run my hotel!"

A cold, unhurried male voice cut through the noise.

Manager Warren's shoulders jerked violently. He spun around, his face instantly contorting into a sycophantic, groveling smile that scrunched the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes together. "Mr. Chambers! This woman was causing a scene at your gala. I was just having her removed so she wouldn't ruin everyone's evening!"

"Oh? And did you actually investigate who was causing the scene?"

Caleb met Vanessa's gaze and gave a subtle, polite nod.

Vanessa's tense nerves loosened slightly, though a wave of confusion followed. She had never met Caleb Chambers before. Why was he stepping in to help her?

Manager Warren stood frozen, hesitating. "Mr. Chambers, do you mean to say..."

Caleb never meddled in petty squabbles like this. Was he suddenly interested in the older Grant daughter because she was beautiful? Well, it made sense—what man didn't love a stunning woman?

"Go pull the security footage." Caleb's tone dropped several degrees.

"Ah? Mr. Chambers, the camera, it's..."

Before he could finish his lie, he met Caleb's glacial, razor-sharp glare. Manager Warren's heart seized in terror, and he swallowed the rest of his sentence, bowing frantically. "Yes, right away! I'll pull it up immediately!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Malcom and Giselle's faces drained of all color. The surrounding guests also sensed something was wrong—hadn't they just been told the camera was broken?

In his blind panic, he immediately turned and bit the hand that fed him. "Mr. Chambers, it had nothing to do with me! It was Giselle! Giselle begged me to help her! She wanted to frame Vanessa and told me to get her thrown out!"

Giselle's pupils constricted in absolute shock, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "Malcom! What the hell are you talking about? You were the one who lusted after my sister, and when she rejected you, you flew into a rage and wanted to ruin her!"

"Shut up!"

Malcom's face was black as thunder as he barked at her. "You were terrified that Vanessa was going to secure the Vittini distribution rights, so you begged me to help you kick her out of the gala!"

"You..."

Giselle shook with rage, her face flushing crimson, entirely too furious to form a coherent sentence.

"Resorting to dirty tricks because you lack the skill... I despise women like you."

Malcom whipped his head back to Vanessa, instantly pasting on a mask of desperate sincerity. "Vanessa, I really do like you. I just made a stupid mistake in the heat of the moment. Please, forgive me just this once..."

Vanessa's eyes were freezing cold, laced with absolute disgust. "Your affection makes me sick."