Chapter 6 - The Shattered Illusion
Graham slowly turned his head to look at Vivian, the blind devotion of the past year evaporating into pure, blinding rage.
“You lied to me,” Graham said, his voice dropping into a terrifying, dead calm register.
“You told me you hadn't seen her. You dragged my little girl down to the service stairs.”
“Graham, listen to me, I was just trying to calm her down because she was throwing a fit about her dress!” Vivian pleaded frantically.
“She looked terrified, Vivian!” Natalie roared, lunging forward before the club manager pulled her back.
“Look at her arm in that video! That’s the exact red bruise I saw last week!”
Graham stared at the screen again, watching how Vivian’s fingers dug cruelly into his daughter's frail wrist.
The excuses he had made for Vivian over the past few months—that she was strict, that Maisie was difficult, that it was all just adjustment stress—came crashing down.
He hadn't been protecting his family; he had been protecting his own comfortable illusion while his daughter suffered in silence.
“Where is my daughter, Vivian?” Graham demanded, taking a menacing step toward her with his fists clenched.
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“If you did anything to her, I swear to God—”
Before Graham could finish his sentence, Vivian spun around, threw open the office door, and bolted down the hallway toward the exit.
