Chapter 10 - Escaping The Luxurious Dining Room
Grace walked down the grand staircase for the final time, her small leather travel bag resting lightly against her shoulder.
The crystal chandeliers overhead cast a cold, indifferent light across the empty banquet table where the nightmare had begun.
Julian followed close behind her, desperate to say something that might bridge the uncrossable chasm between them.
“Grace, please don't walk out of my life; let me make things right, let me protect you from now on,” Julian pleaded softly.
Grace stopped at the front door, turning around to look him straight in the eyes without a trace of anger or regret.
“You couldn't protect me when I was sitting right across from your mother at her own table, Julian,” Grace said calmly.
“I was blinded by family loyalty and cowardice, and I hate myself for it every single second,” Julian admitted, his voice breaking.
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“Loyalty to a monster isn't virtue, Julian; it’s complicity,” Grace replied, opening the heavy front door into the cool night air.
She stepped out past the stone pillars, leaving the opulent mansion and the toxic dynasty behind her forever.
