Vanessa’s polite mask slipped, her eyes hardening. “It is my wedding, and Lily will wear the suit, or she won’t be in the ceremony at all.”
Hot tears finally spilled over Lily’s eyelashes, tracking down her flushed cheeks. She pressed her face into my side, her small voice barely a whisper against my dress. “Mommy, she said flower girls are supposed to be pretty for the pictures… and she said I wasn’t pretty enough.”
A cold, suffocating rage washed over me, stealing the breath from my lungs. Before I could open my mouth to tear Vanessa apart, the heavy wooden door to the suite swung open.
It was Richard, my former father-in-law. Dressed in a sharp tuxedo, he had clearly come to check on his granddaughter before the music started. He took one look at Lily swimming in the boy’s suit, her face wet with tears, and his expression darkened instantly. The warmth vanished from his eyes, replaced by a terrifying stillness.