Chapter 5 - Shadows of the Past"Discipline?" Julian repeated softly, the quiet word far more dangerous than his loud roar. He looked at his wife as if seeing a total stranger. "This isn't discipline, Victoria. This is abuse. This is torture."
"Don't you dare use that word with me!" Victoria snapped, her cheeks flushing bright crimson despite her pale foundation. She stepped closer, trying to reclaim her usual authority, but her shaking hands betrayed her. "I am raising her while you build your empire! I gave up my career for this family! I sacrificed everything!"
"You sacrificed her!" Julian yelled back, hugging Lily tighter as the girl sobbed quietly into his neck. "I trusted you! I built all of this so you and Lily could have everything!"
"Everything?" Victoria laughed bitterly, a hysterical, shrill sound. "You gave us money, Julian! Not a home! And now you come back unannounced, breaking into my routines, judging me?"
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Julian saw right through her. It wasn't just about a spilled glass of milk or a ruined rug. There was something sinister in Victoria’s eyes—a desperate, spiraling malice that had been growing in the dark while he looked the other way.
He remembered the subtle warning signs from months ago: Lily's sudden fear of dark rooms, the unexplained bruises on her tiny wrists that Victoria blamed on clumsy falls at the playground, the housekeepers who kept resigning without notice. He had been blind, wrapped in corporate battles, while the real war was being fought inside his own home.
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