Chapter 3 – The Threat
Lily finally gathered enough courage to speak.
She looked directly at her father.
"Daddy..."
"What is it?"
"She said..."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"...if I told you what happened..."
"...she'd send me away forever."
Gasps filled the ballroom.
Vanessa immediately interrupted.
"She's confused!"
But Lily continued.
"She said..."
"...good daughters know when they're not wanted."
Several women began crying.
A retired child psychologist attending the wedding quietly shook her head.
"No child invents fear like that."
Vanessa's mother hurried forward.
"My daughter would never—"
"Enough."
The single word came from Ethan.
It wasn't loud.
Yet the entire room became still.
"I believed you loved Lily."
"I tried."
"You never tried."
May you like
"I tolerated her."
Those four words destroyed every remaining illusion.
