Chapter 4 - Vanessa Had Told Emma Damian Was Too Sick to Come Home
That was how the isolation began.
Vanessa controlled information.
She told Damian:
“Emma’s having fun.”
She told Emma:
“Your dad needs quiet.”
When Emma asked to visit him:
“No.”
When Damian asked to speak to Emma:
“She’s asleep.”
Once:
“She’s swimming.”
Another time:
“She’s watching a movie with Mom.”
None of it seemed alarming because the separation was supposed to last only a few days.
But inside the Hale mansion, Vanessa had begun changing the rules.
Emma could not call Damian without permission.
Could not leave the upstairs guest wing alone.
Could not ask Eleanor for help.
Could not mention Rachel, her late mother, because Vanessa said:
“We don’t keep dead people in the middle of living families.”
That sentence devastated Emma.
She cried.
Vanessa called it disrespect.
Then began punishing every emotional reaction.
Not physically.
Through isolation.
No dessert.
No television.
Sitting alone.
Standing beside the dining table while adults ate.
By the formal dinner, Emma had been conditioned to believe everyone in the house agreed with Vanessa.
Because nobody contradicted her.
That was the part Damian could not forgive easily.
Not just Vanessa’s cruelty.
May you like
The room full of witnesses.
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