Chapter 3: The Breaking Point
Garrett stood up slowly. The sheer, terrifying intensity radiating from his tall frame caused the corporate executives at the table to hold their breath. His face was a mask of cold, unyielding stone as he stepped away from his chair.
"Garrett, sit back down," Beatrice commanded, her voice dropping to a sharp, authoritative hiss. "The child needs to learn boundaries. She is clumsy and undisciplined. I am doing you a favor by teaching her manners before she embarrasses our name further."
Garrett didn't say a word to his mother. He completely ignored her existence.
Instead, he knelt down beside Lily’s chair, his powerful arms instantly wrapping around her tiny frame. He gathered his heartbroken daughter into his chest, holding her tightly as she buried her face into his neck, sobbing quietly.
"You are perfect, Lily," Garrett whispered fiercely into her hair, his voice thick with emotion. "You are the best thing in my life."
He stood back up, holding Lily securely against his shoulder. He finally turned his gaze toward Beatrice. The abusive grandmother didn't expect her son to completely turn against her. She expected submission; instead, she met a gaze of absolute fire.
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"Garrett, if you walk away from this table, I will personally strip you of your title as Chief Executive Officer," Beatrice threatened, her pearls shaking with frantic rage as she realized she was losing control. "I will remove you from the family trust. You will leave this house with nothing!"
"Keep the money, mother," Garrett delivered a quiet, savage reality check that completely shattered the matriarch's ego in front of her entire board of directors. "Because every dollar you own is covered in the blood of the people you've broken. You are not a leader. You are just a lonely, cruel old woman standing in an empty room."
