CHAPTER 2: THE GIFT BOX
Victoria bent down and picked up the small gift box she had dropped earlier.
The one she had been carrying when she overheard the betrayal.
Daniel noticed it immediately.
His stomach tightened.
"What's in that box?"
Victoria stared at it for several seconds.
Then slowly opened it.
Inside lay a tiny silver bracelet.
A baby bracelet.
Engraved with a name.
The room became silent again.
Daniel's eyes widened.
Because the name wasn't the one they had chosen.
Victoria looked directly at him.
"I changed my mind."
Her voice trembled.
"Three days ago."
Daniel frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Victoria lifted the bracelet.
"This was supposed to be your surprise."
Tears finally escaped her eyes.
"Our son was going to carry your grandfather's name."
Daniel felt something break inside him.
His grandfather had raised him.
Protected him.
Loved him when nobody else did.
The old man had died the year before.
Victoria continued.
"I wanted to honor the man who taught me what loyalty meant."
Daniel looked away.
Ashamed.
The bracelet shook in her hand.
"But now..."
She closed the box.
"There is no reason for him to carry the name of a family that taught his father how to betray people."
The words hit Daniel harder than anything else.
Because for the first time, he saw the future.
A future where his son would know exactly what happened.
A future where his child would look at him with disappointment.
Just like his father was looking at him now.
And suddenly the affair didn't seem exciting.
It seemed pathetic.
Small.
May you like
Worthless.
Compared to what he was losing.
