CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6
The detectives asked Mark to step into the hall.
He refused at first.
Then one of them quietly said enough for only the nearest guests to hear, “Sir, do not make this worse in front of witnesses.”
That word changed everything.
Witnesses.
Mark finally understood that the room he had filled with people to humiliate me had become the room that would confirm his confession.
He looked at Eleanor for help.
She was pale now, one hand gripping the stem of her champagne glass.
“Mother,” he said.
But Eleanor was already saving herself.
“I never told him to hurt her,” she whispered.
Mark stared at her.
The betrayal between them was small, ugly, and immediate.
My father walked to my side but did not touch me until I nodded.
Then he placed one hand gently on my shoulder.
“You ready?” he asked.
I looked around the living room.
The birthday cake.
The flowers.
The guests.
The chandelier.
The house Mark had called his.
Every corner suddenly felt different.
Not safe yet.
But no longer silent.
The detectives escorted Mark toward the front door.
As he passed me, he hissed, “You’ll regret this.”
My phone was still recording.
One detective stopped walking.
Mark closed his mouth.
I almost smiled.
May you like
Not because I was happy.
Because for once, he heard himself the way everyone else did.
