Chapter 5 - The Weight of Choice
Daniel pointed toward the shattered glasses and Celeste's stained gown.
"Look at this mess."
Nora stared at him.
"What we've done?"
Celeste had hit Lucy.
Daniel had thrown his own wife to the floor.
Yet somehow...
He believed they were the problem.
His expression never softened.
"You both deserved it."
Silence swallowed the ballroom.
Nora searched his face for regret.
For guilt.
For even the smallest sign he understood what he'd just said.
She found nothing.
Only cold calculation.
Lucy slowly lifted her swollen face.
"Daddy?"
Daniel glanced at her.
Only for a second.
Then looked away.
At that moment...
Everything became clear.
He hadn't failed to protect his daughter.
He had chosen not to.
Years of quiet neglect, hidden phone calls, and unexplained late nights in the office aligned in Nora’s mind like falling dominoes.
Daniel had not arrived at this gala as a loyal family man.
He had arrived as a man auditioning for a spot at Celeste Arden’s side, desperate to climb into the inner circle of old money.
And he was willing to step on his own daughter’s face to get there.
Nora held Lucy’s head tighter against her collarbone.
She felt a cold, hard clarity replace the shock in her veins.
The fear was gone.
May you like
The marriage was gone.
Everything she had tried to preserve for six years was reduced to dust on the marble floor.
