I might’ve been your golden key.
But now?
Now, I’m the lock you’ll never pick again.
The chandelier’s glow felt suffocating. The room spun with laughter, clinking glasses, and expensive perfume, but all I could hear was my own heartbeat—loud, erratic, drowning everything else.
I was standing in the middle of Dulcie’s grand return party, a celebration thrown in her honor after her ‘soul-searching’ trip to Europe. The woman who once swore she'd never abandon me had done just that—only to return with more money, more influence, and a smugness that made my stomach turn.
And as if the universe hadn't mocked me enough, he was here too.
Reagan.
His gaze was like a noose tightening around my throat. He hadn’t spoken to me much tonight, but when he did, it was a warning.
"Don’t embarrass me tonight, Danica. Be a good girl."
His fingers had gripped my wrist just hard enough to remind me—obedience wasn’t a choice.
I wanted to tell my father everything. He stood across the room, drink in hand, shaking hands with men twice his age and ten times as corrupt. If he knew what was happening to me, would he care?
No.
I had no illusions left about my father’s love. But still, I thought about it. About walking up to him and whispering the truth.
I’m pregnant, Dad. Reagan can’t know. I need help. He's going to kill us both.
But I knew better. My father never helped unless it benefited him. And telling him meant risking my babies’ lives. So I swallowed the words down like poison and smiled like I wasn’t suffocating.
And then, like a snake slithering into my space, she appeared.
“Oh my God, bestie!” Dulcie squealed, wrapping her arms around me in a hug that felt more like a stranglehold. “I missed you so much!”
Her perfume was overwhelming—sweet, intoxicating, fake.
She pulled back, eyes scanning me from head to toe before her lips curled. “Dani, darling, you look so… shabby.”
My grip tightened on my glass.
Dulcie gasped dramatically, touching my arm with faux concern. “Are you eating enough? You look so… plain. No wonder Reagan—” She cut herself off with a laugh. “Oops, never mind!”
She knew exactly what she was doing.
I forced a smile. “No wonder Reagan what?”