What was she apologizing for?
He looked at Maria.
“Take her to the kitchen. Stay with her.”
Maria nodded quickly.
Emma looked back as she was carried away.
“Daddy… don’t be mad at me…”
That sentence—
finished breaking him.
The door closed.
Silence returned.
But this time, it was darker.
Heavier.
Daniel stood slowly.
His expression had changed.
No doubt now.
Just a calm, controlled fury.
The kind that comes right before consequences.
“Sit down, Lauren.”
“I’m not sitting in my own house like I’ve done something wrong,” she snapped, crossing her arms.
He smiled.
But there was no warmth in it.
“Your house?”
For the first time—
she hesitated.
Just a flicker.
But he saw it.
Daniel walked to his desk.
Opened a drawer.
Pulled out a thick folder.
Dropped it on the table.
“Then sit,” he said quietly, “because what you’re about to see… changes everything.”
Lauren swallowed.
“What is that?”
He looked up.
And there was nothing human left in his eyes.
“The truth.”
Then—
a voice echoed from the ceiling speakers.
A familiar voice.
Cold.
Cruel.
Undeniable.
Lauren’s voice.
But not the one he knew.
A different one.
“Stop crying… your father doesn’t have time for you… you’re nothing but a burden…”
Lauren stumbled back.