Chapter 26:


    His eyes lit up with malicious delight. He ran over to the path where Isolde and Effie stood frozen. He waved the silver ne in Effie’s face. The metal glinted in the sun.


    “Look,” Kaiden sneered. “I have a dad. You don’t.”


    Effie flinched. She took a step back, her grip on the origami book tightening until the cover bent.


    “You’re a wild child,” Kaiden chanted, a cruel rhyme he must have picked up from a nanny. “No daddy, no home, just a wild child.”


    Effie bit her lip. Her chin trembled. She didn’t cry, but her eyes filled with water, magnifying her pain.


    Belle noticed themotion. She stood up, smoothing her skirt, her smile freezing into a mask of annoyance when she saw Isolde. She didn’t move to stop Kaiden. She just turned her head slightly to the left, offering her good side to the photographers.


    Grayson looked up. He frowned. He looked at Kaiden, then at Effie. He opened his mouth, perhaps to scold Kaiden for being loud, but he didn’t move.


    Isolde felt the blood rush to her ears. The sound of the city faded, reced by the thumping of her own heart.


    She let go of Effie’s hand and stepped forward. She ced herself between her daughter and the boy.


    She looked down at Kaiden. She didn’t yell. Her voice was low, cold, and sharp as a scalpel.


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    “You should be careful what you repeat, little boy.”


    Kaiden blinked, confused. “What?”


    Isolde lifted her gaze. She looked past the boy, straight at Belle, who was still subtly posing.


    “Some mothers,” Isolde said, her voice carrying clearly over the click of the cameras, “are just props. They pose and smile, but they won’t even step forward to teach their own child basic decency.”


    The air seemed to vanish from the park.


    Belle’s face went chalk white. Her hand flew to her throat. The smile dropped off her face like shattered ss.


    Grayson shot to his feet. His eyes were dark, dangerous. He took a step toward Isolde.


    “Isolde,” he warned. “Shut your mouth.”


    Kaiden didn’t understand the words, but he understood the tone. He felt the tension, the sudden shift in power. He felt small. And Kaiden hated feeling small.


    “You’re stupid!” Kaiden screamed.


    He shoved Effie.


    It was a hard, two-handed push.


    Effie wasn’t ready. She stumbled back. Her heel caught on the edge of the cobblestone path. She tipped backward, her arms iling.


    Behind her was the stone base of the statue. Sharp, unforgiving granite.


    “Effie!” Isolde screamed, lunging forward.


    She was too far. She watched in slow motion as her daughter fell. A blur of gray cashmere moved past her.


    Grayson didn’t think. He didn’t calcte PR angles. He didn’t look at Belle.


    He dove.


    His hand shot out, catching the back of Effie’s head inches before it cracked against the stone. His other arm wrapped around her small waist, pulling her hard against his chest.


    Theynded in a heap on the grass.


    Silence.


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