Chapter 3: The Cracks in the Glass
The hospital room was filled with soft beeping monitors and sterile light.
Lily slept peacefully, a small oxygen tube beneath her nose. The doctors had called it a miracle.
Arthur called it something else.
A warning.
He sat beside her bed, replaying the moment over and over in his mind.
The splash.
Victoria’s stillness.
Her eyes.
“Daddy…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Arthur leaned in instantly. “I’m right here, baby.”
Lily’s small hand clutched his.
“She… she pushed me.”
The world stopped.
Arthur didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe.
“Who did, sweetheart?”
Lily’s lip trembled.
“Victoria.”
Silence filled the room like a vacuum.
Arthur closed his eyes.
And in that moment, everything began to rearrange itself—every smile, every perfectly timed gesture, every moment that had felt slightly… off.
May you like
This wasn’t an accident.
This was intent.
