Chapter 1 - The Dinner Daniel Was Never Supposed to See
The pan struck the side of Lily’s chair before anyone at the table moved.
Bread scattered across the polished dining-room floor.
Two-year-old Lily tumbled down with the chair, landing beside it in her torn pale-pink dress.
She began sobbing immediately.
Vanessa remained standing over her.
“Go ahead and cry; no one is coming to save trash like you.”
Nobody at the long table spoke.
That frightened Lily almost as much as Vanessa did.
Then the dining-room doorway opened.
Daniel stopped.
For one second, he seemed unable to understand why his daughter was on the floor while the rest of the family continued sitting around dinner.
Then he crossed the room.
“Lily.”
He lifted her quickly into his arms.
She clung to his shirt.
“Daddy, she keeps tormenting me whenever you’re away.”
Daniel’s face changed.
He lowered Lily carefully behind him.
Then he picked up the fallen pan and hurled it toward Vanessa.
It struck her upper body and sent her stumbling backward onto the floor.
Margaret shot out of her chair.
She pointed directly at Lily.
“That bastard child deserves it.”
Daniel turned.
His fist drove Margaret backward into the dining table.
The table tipped.
Plates, glasses, and food crashed across the floor as Margaret went down beside it.
Vanessa stared from the wreckage.
Margaret looked stunned.
Daniel moved back in front of Lily.
“You tormented my daughter. You’re done for.”
Then he noticed something.
May you like
Not one person at the table looked shocked by what Lily had said.
They looked frightened that Daniel had finally heard it.
