Chapter 2 - THE FATHER WHO SAW HER ON THE FLOOR.
The room changed the moment Mr. Carter entered.
The guests who had watched in silence a second earlier suddenly lowered their glasses and stepped back, as if wealth finally recognized greater wealth. Two security men held the doors open behind him. He did not hurry. That made Ryan’s fear look worse.
Mr. Carter’s eyes fell first on Sophia sitting on the marble floor, one hand braced behind her, the other over her stomach. His face did not crack. It hardened.
“Get my daughter off that floor.”
Ryan found his voice before anyone else moved.
“She crashed the wedding, sir. She stole Madison’s bracelet and caused a scene when we confronted her.”
Madison nodded quickly, too quickly. “We only asked to check her purse.”
Sophia gave a short, bitter laugh and looked straight at her father.
“If I stole it,” she asked, “why is he hiding it?”
The silence that followed felt violent.
Mr. Carter turned toward Ryan with the calm of a man who had already decided whether mercy would be offered.
“Open your hand.”
Ryan did not move.
One security guard stepped forward. Ryan finally unclenched his fist.
The silver bracelet dropped onto the marble between them.
May you like
Madison went white.
But Sophia was staring at Ryan’s other hand—because on his ring finger, beneath the panic, he was still wearing the thin gold band he had promised never to remove.
