Chapter 2: The Knife
The folding knife flashed under the ballroom lights.
Gasps filled the foyer.
Daniel lunged.
Not toward Sophie.
Toward Emily.
"You're ruining everything!" he shouted.
Emily froze.
Her pregnancy made every movement painfully slow.
She couldn't escape.
Without thinking, Sophie threw herself between them.
The blade drove into her shoulder.
She grunted but refused to fall.
Daniel tried to pull the knife free for another strike.
Sophie grabbed his wrist with both hands.
"You'll never touch her."
The two struggled across the polished marble.
Guests scattered in panic.
A retired Marine named Richard Collins rushed forward.
Two security guards followed.
Together they slammed Daniel onto the floor.
The knife slid across the marble.
Daniel fought like a cornered animal.
"You don't understand!" he screamed.
"She wasn't supposed to survive!"
Silence.
Those six words echoed louder than any confession.
Emily's tears stopped.
She wasn't crying anymore.
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She was staring at the man she'd loved for eight years.
As though she had never truly known him.
