Chapter 8: The Mask Cracks

For the first time all day, I finally breathed.

Ryan shot to his feet.

“You can’t do that!”

The judge’s voice sharpened instantly.

“I can, and I just did.”

Ryan’s carefully polished mask finally cracked. His face turned red with anger.

“She’s turning my daughter against me,” he snapped. “She always hated my mother. She wanted my money, my house, my family name—”

“I wanted a husband,” I said quietly.

The room went silent.

I turned toward him fully now, my cheek still throbbing.

“I wanted you to come home when Lily had a fever. I wanted you to stop letting your mother call me trash inside my own kitchen. I wanted you to tell the truth once.”

Ryan opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Judge Whitaker looked at him with disappointment heavier than anger. Continue Reading ⬇️