She walked down the stairs slowly, back in her uniform, mask covering her face again. No one would recognize her.
But I did.
Her hands were clenched tight at her sides. Even without seeing her face… I knew. She wasn’t happy.
…
A moment later, Shannon let go of him and went back to work like nothing happened. She started setting up the champagne tower, careful and slow, standing on her toes as she stacked the glasses from the top down. For a second, everything looked normal.
Then suddenly, she slipped. Or… that’s what it looked like. Her ankle twisted and she grabbed the tablecloth in panic, and the whole thing came crashing down. Glass shattered everywhere, sharp and loud, like something breaking beyond repair. Pieces flew toward both of us. People gasped.
Felix’s face changed instantly and he ran forward. Not to me. To her. He pulled Shannon into his arms, shielding her completely like she was something fragile, something worth protecting.
I had already stepped back, already avoided most of it. But then he slammed into me. Hard. My body lost balance and I fell straight to the ground. My head hit first. Everything went white for a second, then warm liquid started running down the side of my face. Blood. Glass shards cut into my skin, shallow at first, then deeper, burning like I was being sliced apart slowly. My whole body shook, pain spreading everywhere. I couldn’t even scream.
My vision blurred. And somehow… I smiled. So this was the truth. I used to think he loved us equally. Split in half. But if he had to choose… he already did.
When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. The lights were too bright. My head throbbed.
“Danica…” his voice was low, almost guilty. “I was trying to protect you. I just… I got confused. I was worried and grabbed the wrong person.”
Wrong person.
He kept kissing my hand over and over, like that would fix anything, like he could pour his feelings into something I couldn’t even feel. Because it wasn’t real.
I stared at him. Felt nothing. “Then what about the waitress?” I asked coldly.
I knew what I saw. That fall wasn’t an accident.
Felix paused for a second, then shrugged slightly. “She messed up. Careless. I already had her blacklisted. She won’t be working anywhere again.”