Fractures in the Facade
The palpable silence that descended upon the opulent dining hall was deafening, a suffocating weight that pressed down upon the assembled members of the Feng family like a physical force. The revelation that Feng Ruoxi and Jiang Yukang had already exchanged vows, solidifying their union in the most binding of ways, hung in the air like a dense fog, obscuring the carefully crafted façade of decorum and propriety that had long been the hallmark of their illustrious clan.
It was Feng Zhengzhi, the venerable patriarch, who found his voice first, the shock and outrage etched upon his features giving way to a simmering fury that threatened to boil over at any moment. His eyes, once sharp and calculating, now burned with an intensity that bordered on madness, his gaze flickering between Feng Ruoxi and Jiang Yukang like a caged predator sizing up its prey.