Victor said nothing at first. He paced slowly along the stone driveway, weighing the brick in his hand as if he were about to deliver a life lesson instead of violence.

Inside the house, Margaret Hale, their mother, watched through the glass doors, sipping her coffee. She never intervened. She preferred letting her husband play executioner so she could later play the elegant woman trapped in a difficult marriage. But Margaret wasn’t a victim—she enjoyed the spectacle, as long as the pain never touched her.

“I didn’t do anything,” Emily tried again, louder this time. “She—”

“Enough.” One word. Flat. Final.

Emily fell silent—not from obedience, but because she recognized the sentence already passed in his tone.

Victor turned toward her.

“You dared to lay a hand on your sister?”

“No,” Emily said, stepping back. “She hit me—”

The brick dropped.

No dramatic swing. No shouting. Just one step forward—and he released it with horrifying precision.

It struck her knees.

The crack echoed like a tree snapping in winter.