Chapter 6 - The Panic Sets In
Daniel lunged forward across the table, entirely abandoning his sophisticated composure as he stared at the glowing countdown timer ticking away on the white linen.
Four minutes and twelve seconds. Four minutes and eleven seconds.
"Claire, are you insane?!" Daniel whispered in absolute panic, his voice cracking as he gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning stark white. "You’re threatening our marriage over a glass of wine?! You're going to throw away three years of our life because of an accident?!"
"An accident?" Claire repeated, her voice dripping with lethal sarcasm as she looked down at her mother's stained beige lace dress. "Your sister intentionally ruined my mother's dress, and you sat there like a coward and told me I was making a scene."
"I'll make her apologize!" Daniel blurted out frantically, turning his head to glare at Madison, finally trying to issue a command to his sister. "Madison, say you're sorry right now!"
Madison crossed her arms, tossing her head back with arrogant defiance. "I am not apologizing to peasants, Daniel! She ruined her own dress by sitting where she shouldn't have!"
The timer ticked down. Three minutes and thirty seconds.
Claire didn't blink. She looked down at her husband with a powerful, unyielding expression that completely obliterated any remaining hope he had of manipulating her.
She had spent three long years enduring his family's microaggressions, biting her tongue to keep the peace, and supporting a man who wouldn't even lift a finger to defend her mother's tears.
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The five minutes were rapidly running out, and Daniel had done absolutely nothing to fix it.
👉 Continue to Part 10 for the absolute, satisfying conclusion.
