Eleanor’s face crumpled in pure horror. She immediately reached out with trembling hands, her voice shaking with genuine distress.

"I'm so sorry, it was an accident," Eleanor pleaded, her eyes welling with terrified tears.

Victoria did not care about apologies. She only cared about her ruined image and the burning need to punish the woman responsible.

"Look what you did to my dress!" Victoria screamed, her voice shrill and unhinged, cutting through the silence of the ballroom like a knife.

Before Eleanor could take a step back, Victoria lunged forward. She raised her right hand and delivered a vicious, open-handed slap directly across the older woman’s cheek. The sound was a sickening, sharp crack that echoed off the marble walls. The sheer force of the blow snapped Eleanor’s head to the side, leaving a bright red, burning handprint against her pale skin. Eleanor stumbled backward, clutching her face in agony, completely shattered by the violent humiliation unfolding before the staring eyes of the city's elite.