CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
Daniel dropped to his knees beside her.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his hands careful, shaking as he touched her shoulder.
Emily could barely speak. “I’m okay.”
“Look at me.”
She did.
His eyes were wet, furious, terrified.
Behind him, Margaret lifted both hands as if she were the victim.
“She slipped,” Margaret said quickly. “Everyone saw it. She got hysterical and slipped.”
No one answered.
Daniel turned slowly.
The room had gone silent.
Margaret’s face hardened. “Daniel, don’t look at me like that. Your wife created a scene.”
Daniel stood, but he stayed close enough that Emily could hold his sleeve.
“You threw a cake at her,” he said.
Margaret laughed once, sharp and false. “That is ridiculous.”
The young man with the phone lowered it slightly.
Vanessa whispered, “Aunt Margaret…”
Margaret snapped her head toward her. “Not one word.”
Then she reached for the large white gift box.
Emily noticed it from the floor.
The box had shifted during the chaos.
Something small and black was visible near the table leg beneath it.
May you like
A tiny blue light blinked.
Emily’s breath caught.
