Alice whimpered again, soft and pitiful.
"Let it go. Even though she wanted to kill me, I can't bear to watch this." She buried her face against his chest, her shoulders quivering. "Let's just leave. The baby's kicking—I don't feel well."
Dustin's voice turned impossibly tender. "You're too kind. That's exactly why she walks all over you."
Then he lifted her into his arms, cradling her like a bride on her wedding night.
As he passed me, he stopped. His words fell like ice.
"If there's a next time, you won't get off this easy. Cecily—for the sake of the child in your belly, I suggest you learn your place."
Then he carried her out and disappeared through the door.
The bodyguards dispersed. The crowd scattered.
I lay on the freezing floor like a discarded rag, thrown aside without a second thought. They stepped over me, every single one of them, and not a soul reached down. My body was heavy as stone. Even the agony in my chest had gone numb—or maybe it hurt so much that feeling itself had shut down.
I tried to get up. I couldn't move.
My eyelids grew heavier. Heavier. The red behind my eyes dimmed, then darkened to black.
Am I dying?
"Cecily? God damn it—Cecily! Who did this to my daughter?!"