CHAPTER 2 — The Wedding That Ended Before It Began
Sabrina stared at me as if she hadn't heard the words.
"Daniel..." she laughed weakly. "You're joking."
I wasn't.
Emma clung to the back of my legs, trembling so violently that I could barely stand the sight of it.
I knelt beside her.
"Sweetheart, look at me."
She slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes.
"Did she hurt you?"
Emma hesitated.
Her tiny lips quivered.
Then she nodded.
Once.
The smallest movement.
It shattered my world.
I gently lifted the hem of her little dress.
My stomach twisted.
Fresh crimson welts crossed both of her legs.
Some were already swelling.
Others had broken the skin.
There was no explaining them away.
No pretending this had been an accident.
Behind me, Sabrina's voice became desperate.
"She fell! She panicked! I was trying to discipline her because she kept screaming!"
I stood.
"You call this discipline?"
She folded her arms.
"You spoil her. She manipulates you because she knows you still worship your dead wife."
The words hit harder than any punch.
Emily—my late wife—had spent the last weeks of her life begging me to protect our daughter.
I had promised.
And within a single hour of remarrying...
I had already broken that promise.
I looked at Sabrina with eyes she had never seen before.
"The wedding is over."
Outside, more than four hundred guests waited inside the ballroom.
The orchestra was playing.
Champagne was flowing.
No one knew the bride had already become my ex-wife.
I took Emma into my arms and walked straight past the grand staircase.
When the ballroom doors opened, every conversation stopped.
Hundreds of faces turned toward us.
Sabrina rushed after me.
"Daniel! Don't do this!"
I stepped onto the stage where we were supposed to share our first dance.
Instead, I picked up the microphone.
"The reception has been canceled."
A wave of confusion swept across the room.
Then I said the words no one expected.
"I caught my wife beating my six-year-old daughter less than ten minutes ago."
The ballroom fell silent.
You could hear glasses being set down.
No one applauded.
May you like
No one moved.
Sabrina's perfect smile finally cracked.
