“Still pretending we are strangers?” he said. “You really never learn, baby. I taught you obedience every night. Do you want me to remind you again in front of everyone?”
My knees went weak.
My body remembered before my mind did.
Whispers exploded around us.
“So that’s the man she ran off with.”
“No wonder Mr. Vanderbilt is remarrying. Any man would.”
“She comes from nothing. Look how low she fell.”
“Her mother worked this wedding like a maid. And her son is serving drinks. This whole family knows their place.”
David strode over, jaw tight, eyes irritated like I was an inconvenience. “Did you really have to come today?” he snapped under his breath. “I worked for a year on this. I wanted Roxanne to have a perfect wedding. Everything was finally peaceful. And you show up like this. Are you doing this on purpose?”
Just a wedding.
That was all it was to him.
Not the year I spent bleeding.
Not the nights I was beaten until I passed out.
Not the days I was starved until I licked rotten food off the floor just to stay alive.
All of it was just groundwork. A clean excuse. A pretty lie so he could stand here and marry my sister with everyone cheering.
Something inside me collapsed.
I walked toward my son.