Chapter 3 - The Price on the Stone
Ethan didn't wait for her to formulate another excuse. Driven by raw protective fury, he charged forward and drove a powerful kick straight into Claire’s midsection, the sheer force knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling backward onto the hard stone terrace deck.
Claire gasped for air, her dark updo unspooling as she scrambled backward across the wet stone, her hands shielding her face in absolute terror. She had spent two years manipulating Ethan, carefully maintaining her image as an aristocratic, refined stepmother, but all her composure shattered under the immediate reality of his rage.
Ethan advanced aggressively, delivering two more forceful kicks toward her as she recoiled against the base of the loungers, her burgundy dress dragging through the pooled water. He stood over her, his chest rising and falling in heavy, ragged breaths, his teeth bared in an animalistic snarl.
“YOU TRIED TO KILL MY DAUGHTER!” Ethan panted, his deep voice trembling with a terrifying certainty.
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Claire lay bruised and terrified on the deck, her black heels discarded nearby as she pressed herself flat against the cream stone, unable to meet his eyes. Ethan stared down at her for one more agonizing second before turning his back on her entirely, stepping back toward the lounger where Lily sat shivering.
He gathered his daughter securely into his broad arms, lifting her chest against his shoulder as he stood tall on the terrace. In the background, defocusing under the soft terrace lights, Claire sat huddled on the stone floor, shivering from shock and pain.
