Chapter 3 - The Cruel Whisper
Corinne shrank back into the cushions of the sofa, clutching her stinging cheek, completely paralyzed by the sheer, unfiltered violence radiating from her husband. She had spent the last eight months meticulously crafting an illusion of the perfect, loving stepmother. In a matter of seconds, her entire sociopathic facade had been violently and permanently destroyed.
Ethan didn't take his lethal, burning eyes off Corinne, but he gently wrapped his strong arms securely around his daughter. Maisie was hiding completely behind his sturdy legs, clinging to his dark trousers with one tiny hand while desperately clutching her stuffed rabbit with the other. Her entire fragile body was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.
Ethan slowly knelt down on the oak floor, keeping his body positioned between the child and the couch. He gently cupped Maisie's tear-stained face, his thumb softly brushing against her rosy cheek.
"I'm right here, sweetie. She is never, ever going to hurt you again," Ethan promised, his voice cracking with an overwhelming, agonizing guilt for ever bringing this woman into their home.
Maisie sniffled, her large, frightened eyes darting nervously toward the woman bleeding on the sofa. Despite being only fourteen months old, her trauma had forced her to absorb and repeat the exact, horrifying emotional poison she had been fed in secret.
"She said you’d abandon me too," Maisie whispered, her tiny voice trembling so violently it completely broke Ethan’s heart into a million pieces. "She said you didn't want me anymore."
The revelation hit Ethan with the devastating force of a physical blow. Corinne hadn't just been bruising his daughter's body; she had been systematically, maliciously torturing the child's mind, trying to completely sever the bond between father and daughter so Corinne could secure absolute control over Ethan's massive fortune.
May you like
The dark, apocalyptic rage inside Ethan doubled in size. He slowly stood up, turning his broad shoulders back toward his wife.
👉 What hidden, explosive secret in the room is the traumatized toddler about to point out?
