Chapter 2 - Miriam Raises Her Glass
Miriam had expected Sienna’s mother to cry.
That would have been easy.
Tears could be dismissed. Concern could be mocked. A mother’s fear could be called dramatic, intrusive, emotional, embarrassing.
But the woman in the champagne satin blouse did not fall apart.
She sat beside Sienna with one hand covering her daughter’s cold fingers, her other hand resting near the smartphone she had just used. Her taupe suit was immaculate. Her diamond earrings caught the chandelier light. Her face was still, but her eyes were sharp enough to make the room uncomfortable.
Miriam hated that immediately.
She tapped one red nail against her wineglass.
“You came at an unfortunate time,” she said.
Sienna’s mother did not look at her.
She looked at the sling.
At the bruise.
At the way Sienna kept her shoulders slightly curled inward, even while sitting.
Garrick straightened his burgundy dinner jacket and forced a laugh.
“She slipped.”
Sienna flinched.
Her mother’s gaze moved to him.
“A slip teaches obedience?”
Garrick’s jaw tightened.
Miriam set down her glass harder than necessary.
“Do not twist my words.”
“No,” Sienna’s mother said softly. “You said them clearly.”
The four relatives around the table shifted in their chairs. None of them spoke. Their silence was polished, expensive, and rotten.
Sienna kept her injured arm close to her body.
Her mother noticed the way Garrick watched every movement. Not worried. Measuring.
As if even now he was deciding how much pain he could deny.
The doorbell rang again from somewhere beyond the wide double doors.
Three sharp sounds.
Garrick’s eyes flicked toward the hallway.
Miriam’s smile faltered.
Sienna whispered, “Mom…”
Her mother squeezed her hand once.
A small command.
Stay still.
Stay safe.
Garrick pushed his chair back, but he did not leave yet.
“What did you do?”
Sienna’s mother looked at him with chilling calm.
“I made a call.”
“To whom?”
She did not answer.
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That frightened him more than a name would have.
Read Chapter 3 👉 Because the silence around Sienna’s mother’s call made Garrick realize the people at the door might not be there for dinner.
