Ownership.
Delaney glanced at Mavis.
Mavis smiled.
Grant walked away.
Minutes later, Seraphina watched through the kitchen window as he escorted Delaney toward the limousine.
His hand settled against the small of her back.
Mavis entered behind them.
Then Brielle.
Grant paused before getting into the car.
Delaney whispered something.
He laughed.
Then he bent down and kissed her.
Not a friendly kiss.
Not a mistake.
He kissed her slowly beneath the lights outside the home where his wife stood washing dinner plates.
The limousine disappeared beyond the iron gates.
Seraphina remained motionless.
For seven years, she had mistaken silence for strength.
She had convinced herself that marriage required patience.
She had excused Mavis’s cruelty because Grant always said, “That’s just Mom.”
She had ignored Brielle’s jokes because Grant insisted his sister was insecure.
She had tolerated his late nights.
His locked phone.
His growing contempt.
His habit of introducing Seraphina simply as “my wife” while making sure everyone knew Delaney was his brilliant director of corporate relations.
