Chapter 4 - The Betrayal of TimeGrace stepped back, her face hardening into a mask of steel. "Don't you dare touch her. Don't you dare look at her."
"Grace, I didn't know," Noah begged, stepping closer. "I thought you moved on. I thought you were happy somewhere else. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't want a ghost for a father!" Grace shouted, tears finally breaking through the wall of her pride. "You left for a 'one-year' opportunity, Noah. You spent your first six months calling, then three, then once a month, then a text, then... nothing. You died, Noah. To us, you died seven years ago."
"I was building a life for us!"
"No," she cut him off, her eyes searing. "You were building a monument to your own ego. I didn't need your millions, Noah. I needed a husband. Emily needed a father. You chose the empire."
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Suddenly, the store door swung open. Emily walked in, her red coat bright against the dim shelves. "Mommy? Mr. Noah said he was late. Is he the one?"
Grace’s face crumpled. She looked at Emily, then at Noah, the silence in the bookstore suffocating.
