Silence dropped over the room.
Victoria’s lips pressed together. “Excuse me?”
I met her stare without blinking. “You heard me.”
Ryan shot to his feet so quickly his chair scraped against the marble floor. His face flushed, not only with anger, but with humiliation. For six months, he had performed the role of a different man. Kind. Progressive. Devoted.
That illusion lasted less than half a day after the vows.
“You don’t talk to my mother that way,” he snapped. Parentingsupport groups
“I talk to people the way they earn.”
The slap landed across my face before anyone had time to react.
For a single second, the entire house seemed to stop breathing.
My cheek stung. My wedding ring suddenly felt like a weight on my hand. Ryan stood there breathing hard, watching me as if he expected tears, apologies, surrender.
