Chapter 6 - Daddy Hit Mommy Because Mommy Said We Were Leaving
The birthday party was supposed to be Lily’s escape from all of it.
That sounds naïve now.
But mothers are always trying to build small islands in storms.
She wanted a princess-and-rabbit birthday.
No clowns.
No magicians.
Just cake, flowers, music, and Uncle Callum if Daddy allowed it.
Julian refused to invite my brothers.
“They turn every event into a Sterling security summit.”
So I did not invite them.
I regret that.
But I had the cracked phone hidden inside my gown.
I had evidence backed up.
I had already spoken to Everett about emergency custody filing if Julian escalated.
I had a plan.
Then Khloe arrived in the red dress.
Not invited by me.
She walked into my daughter’s birthday ballroom wearing sequins and diamonds, kissed Julian too close to the mouth, and handed Lily a gift bag containing a stuffed rabbit that looked almost exactly like the one Lily already loved.
Lily whispered to me, “Why did she buy Bunny’s twin?”
I said, “She probably didn’t know.”
Khloe heard and smiled.
“Oh, I knew.”
That was the first open knife of the night.
The second came during cake.
Julian raised a glass and announced, “Tonight isn’t only Lily’s birthday. It’s a new chapter for our family.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Khloe stepped beside him.
Guests murmured.
Julian smiled.
“Serena and I have had challenges. But sometimes the people meant to stay are the ones who understand your future.”
Khloe lowered her lashes.
A few guests looked confused.
Others understood too quickly.
My child stood beside the cake, holding Bunny, listening to her father announce his mistress like a business merger.
I walked to Julian.
“Not here.”
He ignored me.
“Khloe has been a stabilizing presence during a difficult season.”
The room tilted.
“Julian,” I said.
Khloe leaned toward me.
“You should thank me. I kept him from leaving sooner.”
I slapped no one.
I screamed at no one.
I simply lifted Lily into my arms and said, “We’re done.”
That was when Julian grabbed my upper arm.
Hard.
“Put her down.”
“No.”
“You don’t walk out with my daughter.”
“Our daughter is leaving this room before you humiliate her further.”
Khloe laughed softly.
“She’s already embarrassed, Serena. Look at her.”
Lily buried her face in my shoulder.
Julian’s grip tightened.
I pulled away.
He slapped me.
And the ballroom finally saw the marriage.
Now, held in Sebastian’s arms, with Lily safely behind my brothers and Julian restrained by officers, I realized something strange.
I was not embarrassed.
I thought I would be.
All those years, I had feared public collapse.
Feared guests knowing.
Feared whispers.
Feared the Sterling name dragged through scandal because I had married a man my brothers warned me about.
But shame did not arrive.
Only clarity.
Khloe’s voice shook.
“Serena, tell them this is a misunderstanding.”
I looked at her.
“You wore red to my daughter’s birthday and waited for my husband to announce you.”
Her mouth closed.
Julian twisted against the officers.
“She’s unstable. She planned this. Ask anyone—she’s been paranoid for months.”
Sebastian looked at him.
“Julian.”
One word.
Julian stopped talking.
Sebastian did not raise his voice.
He did not threaten.
He simply said his name as if filing it into a system that did not lose things.
Everett stepped forward with the sealed black folder.
He held it at his side, unopened.
Julian stared at it.
“You can’t bring legal documents to a child’s party.”
Everett’s expression did not change.
“You brought your mistress.”
A sound moved through the guests.
Somewhere between shock and agreement.
Khloe’s eyes filled with panic.
“She is not—”
Nathaniel cut in.
“Careful.”
Again, one word.
Again, enough.
The officers looked between everyone, professional but alert.
Detective Reynolds, the older of the two, turned to me.
“Mrs. Vance, do you need medical attention?”
I looked at Lily.
She was clinging to Callum, rabbit pressed against her cheek.
“Yes,” I said. “But my daughter first.”
Lily cried harder then.
Maybe because someone had finally said she came first.
Maybe because I had.
Sebastian lowered his voice near my ear.
“Serena, I need your word.”
I knew what he meant.
Not for the officers.
Not for the guests.
For the family.
For the line I had prevented my brothers from crossing for years.
I looked at Julian.
At Khloe.
At the cake.
At my daughter’s pink dress.
At the faces of guests who now wanted to look sympathetic after enjoying the luxury of not noticing sooner.
Then I nodded.
“Take Lily home,” I whispered.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
“Your home or mine?”
May you like
“Yours.”
The word felt like stepping out of a burning room.
