Chapter 1: The Pulled Chair
Chapter 1: The Pulled Chair
The heavy, custom-made mahogany chair scraped violently against the imported marble floor before Olivia could even begin to sit down.
The sound was sharp, ugly, and entirely out of place in the grand, meticulously decorated dining room of the Bennett estate.
Instantly, the entire family dinner ground to a suffocating halt.
Crystal wine glasses, halfway to waiting lips, froze in the air.
The soft, ambient classical music playing from the hidden speakers seemed to vanish entirely, swallowed by the sudden, heavy tension.
At the very center of the long, candlelit table, Olivia Bennett stood completely still.
She was eight months pregnant.
Her breathing hitched.
She placed one trembling hand protectively over her swollen belly, her knuckles turning white against the fabric of her maternity dress.
Her other hand was still reaching out, hovering helplessly in the empty, cold space where her chair used to be just seconds ago.
Her mother-in-law, Margaret Bennett, stood right beside the empty space.
Margaret’s posture was flawless, her expensive silk blouse unwrinkled, the diamonds on her wrists catching the light of the massive chandelier overhead.
Margaret looked at her daughter-in-law with dark, unyielding eyes.
She wore a smile that was not a smile at all—it was a weapon, sharp enough to cut glass and meant to draw blood.
“Don’t act fragile, Olivia.”
Margaret’s voice was not loud, but it didn't need to be. It carried effortlessly across the silent table, echoing off the high ceilings and the expensive art on the walls.
“You have played the victim long enough. We don’t even know if that baby is truly his.”
Olivia’s face drained of all color.
The subtle, devastating micro-expression of profound shock and deep, agonizing betrayal flashed across her pale eyes.
May you like
She looked around the table. Her parents, Helen and Paul, were seated at the far end, their faces locked in pure horror.
“How can you say that?” Olivia whispered, her voice shaking with a heavy, suppressed weight. “How can you say something so vile in front of everyone?”
