Richard’s face darkened. He slammed his glass against the table.
The guards fell silent.
Vanessa quickly stroked his chest, whispering sweetly, “Don’t be angry, Richard. Anger is bad for your health. Maybe the guards are right.”
But the sharp look she gave them could have cut glass.
“I’m not angry. I’m disgusted,” Richard said with a smile, turning the venom back on me. “Emily Carter, stop pretending. Get up. Lily’s life is in your hands. If you disobey, I’ll give that heart to someone else. Then you can watch her suffer.”
He sneered. “Just like at that pet funeral—Vanessa cried her heart out, but you were cold as stone.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
A father threatening his wife with his own daughter’s life?
“Richard!” I roared, eyes bloodshot. “If anything happens to our daughter, I will haunt you even in death!”
Perhaps it was the first time he had seen me so unhinged, because Richard froze for a moment before standing abruptly.
“Mr. Hayes, maybe let it go,” Vanessa interjected, biting her lip. “After all, the dog was poisoned by Lily. His wife merely missed the funeral. It’s not a big deal. I don’t mind.”
“No.” Richard cut her off immediately. “If the mother fails to teach her daughter, then the mother must be punished.”
He sat back down, his expression dark as he continued watching me like a cruel spectator.
How absurd.
Vanessa had no proof. She was an outsider.
And yet Richard believed her over me.
Richard was utterly convinced, blaming both Lily and me. His brain must have been kicked by a mule.
“Mom!”
Just as I managed to stand again, Lily came running toward me, drenched in sweat, her little face pale.
My heart clenched. “Take her home, quickly,” I urged the guards.
“I’m not going back!” Lily shook her head stubbornly.
“How odd,” Vanessa said slyly. “Wasn’t Lily supposed to be in the hospital? Could it be that his wife arranged this?”
Richard narrowed his eyes at me. “Emily, you claim to love your daughter, unwilling to let her suffer. And now you drag her here to beg for you? How despicably fake.”
The disgust in his gaze made me feel like a criminal.
“I came on my own. A nurse told me,” Lily explained hurriedly, then pleaded, “Daddy, please let Mommy go. Her leg just had surgery—it’s bleeding!”
For a moment I thought Richard would soften. Instead, he slammed the table.
“So your mother taught you to lie too? Do you think I don’t know her leg isn’t injured?”