Chapter 6
Daniel slowly loosened his grip on his daughter, though he kept one large, tattooed arm wrapped securely around her waist. He stood up slightly, bringing Lily to a standing position beside him while remaining crouched on one knee.
"Why are you staring at my daughter's bag, Victoria?" Daniel asked, his voice dropping into a cold, dangerous register. The warmth that had been there for Lily completely vanished as he turned his dark, piercing gaze back onto the woman in the wedding dress.
Victoria swallowed hard, her sharp blue eyes darting frantically between Daniel's face and the pink floral purse. "It's... it's nothing! It's just a silly toy she took from my dressing room! She was playing with my jewelry!"
"She didn't take it from your room," Daniel said quietly, his eyes narrowing. "That purse belonged to my late wife. It has been locked in the master suite safe for three years. The only people who know the combination are me... and Lily."
Victoria’s breath hitched loudly in her throat. Her face contorted into a mask of pure, manipulative panic. "Daniel, please, she's five years old! She doesn't know what she's doing! She's trying to ruin our wedding day! She's been hostile to me all morning!"
Lily shook her head frantically, fresh tears filling her big blue eyes as she looked up at her father. "I didn't steal anything, Daddy! Mommy told me to open it if the bad lady tried to take you away!"
The room went dead silent. The string quartet in the distant ballroom seemed to fade into nonexistence. The warm, luxurious lighting of the foyer suddenly felt blindingly bright, illuminating every micro-expression of absolute terror on Victoria's face.
"What did you say, Lily?" Daniel asked gently, turning his head to look down at his daughter.
"Mommy put a special letter in here before she went to the hospital," Lily whimpered, her tiny hands trembling as she raised the pink floral handbag toward her father. "She said if Victoria ever came to live with us, I had to show you what was inside."
Victoria’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror. Her chest heaved beneath the fitted bodice of her white satin gown. She realized, with a wave of crushing panic, that the late wife had known. The wife had known what Victoria truly was before she died, and she had hidden the truth in the one place Daniel would never think to look until it was almost too late.
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"No," Victoria whispered, her voice cracking. "Daniel, don't listen to her! She's a child! She's making it up!"
Daniel ignored Victoria entirely. He looked at the pink purse, then down at the small, polished gold clasp. "Lily," he said softly, his voice trembling slightly with an unknown dread. "Show Daddy what's inside."
