Chapter 1 - UNDER THE TABLE
The Mercer wedding had been designed to leave no room for imperfection.
White roses climbed the mirrored columns. Crystal chandeliers reflected across polished marble. Champagne moved through the ballroom on silver trays while hundreds of guests admired the wealth of a family that had spent generations turning perfection into a tradition.
But beneath one of the banquet tables, four-year-old Maisie Bennett was crying silently.
Naomi found her there.
Her daughter was curled beneath the white tablecloth, clutching a crushed piece of wedding cake.
When Naomi asked what had happened, Maisie whispered that Vanessa had told her Daddy's guests shouldn't see her.
Naomi's heart broke.
She carried her daughter toward Graham.
The confrontation exploded.
Vanessa defended herself.
Graham admitted he had not known where Maisie was.
And Naomi realized that her former husband had trusted the wrong person on the most important night of his new life.
She took Maisie home.
But before she left, she told Graham something he would never forget.
“You didn't know what was happening to your own daughter.”
Graham watched them leave.
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And for the first time that night, the wedding didn't feel like a celebration.
It felt like the beginning of a disaster.
