Chapter 2: The Moment He Went Quiet
Part 2 ⬇️
Daniel walked through the main dining room before anyone could stop him.
He saw the wet floor first.
Then the towel around my shoulders.
Then me — still in a Coke-soaked blouse, hair dripping, standing in the kitchen doorway.
He went very still.
"Grace." His voice was quiet.
"What happened to you?"
Before I could answer, Sloane's laughter carried across the room.
She was still replaying the video.
Still narrating it for her followers.
"Watch her face when the ice hits — that's the best part."
Daniel turned slowly toward the sound.
I touched his arm.
"The meeting, Daniel.
Don't—"
"Is that her?" he asked.
Mia answered before I could.
"That's Sloane Mercer.
Richard's daughter.
She's been here all evening."
Something shifted in Daniel's expression.
Not anger — something quieter and much more dangerous.
He straightened his jacket.
Picked up the folded twenty from the floor.
Looked at it for a long moment.
Then Martin appeared, already sweating.
"Mr.
Bennett, the Harbor Room is ready.
Mr.
Mercer and Mr.
Caldwell just arrived—"
"I know," Daniel said.
He set the twenty on the service counter without another word and walked toward the Harbor Room.
Sloane finally looked up from her phone.
And for the first time all evening, she stopped laughing.
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What Daniel said inside that room — and what Richard Mercer's face looked like when he found out — is in the full story.
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