Chapter 2 - Caleb Drops His Plate On The Cold Marble Floor
The heavy porcelain plate slipped from Caleb’s numb, trembling fingers, shattering loudly against the polished Carrara marble.
Cold leftover chicken and dry green beans scattered across the pristine white floor, staining the imported stone surface.
A collective gasp rippled through the thirty Hartwell relatives gathered around the massive, mahogany dining table.
Constance Hartwell didn't even flinch, merely lifting her crystal wine glass with an expression of aristocratic disgust.
“Clumsy, just like his mother,” Constance murmured loud enough for every single person at the table to hear clearly.
Caleb squeezed his eyes shut as hot, burning tears spilled over his eyelashes and tracked down his pale cheeks.
He curled his small body into a tight ball on the freezing floor, wrapping his arms around his knees to shield himself.
Julian stared down at the broken pieces of porcelain, his hand tightening around the stem of his wine glass until his knuckles turned white.
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A heavy, suffocating silence descended over the dining room, broken only by the distant ticking of the antique grandfather clock in the hall.
Not a single relative moved to help the crying child, treating his distress as nothing more than an inconvenient mess.
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