CHAPTER 5: His Daughter Refuses the Bride

Lily did not answer immediately.
Children who live around polished cruelty learn that truth can become another punishment.
She looked first at Vivienne, then at the guests, then at the two security men waiting near the service door. Only when Sebastian held out his hand and did not force her to take it did Lily step closer.
Elena began to stand back, but Lily caught her sleeve.
'Don't make her leave,' the child whispered.
Sebastian heard every word.
Vivienne laughed softly, as if the room needed help pretending. 'She is attached to the staff. It happens with motherless children.'
The word motherless struck the marble harder than any dropped glass.
Sebastian rose slowly.
His late wife had been gone two years. No one in the house used her absence like an insult. Not twice.
'Lily,' he said, still watching Vivienne, 'did Miss Elena call me because you asked?'
Lily shook her head.
'I was scared,' she said. 'She called because nobody else came.'
A silence opened under the chandelier, wide enough for reputations to fall into.