Jack couldn't hold it in any longer. His voice cracked like dry thunder as he staggered forward one last step, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth, eyes wild and red-rimmed.
"Nicole—think about it carefully," he rasped, voice shaking with fury and something broken underneath.
"If you choose to go with this bitch… You have no relation with us anymore. No more 'Dad.' No more home. You walk away with her—with him—and you're dead to me. Dead to Bill. Dead to everything we ever were. You hear me? You'll be throwing away your real family for some… some fucked-up fantasy she's living now!"
Nicole flinched hard—her small body jerking against Mira's chest like she'd been slapped. But she didn't answer. Didn't even look at him. She just buried her face deeper into her mother's neck, arms locked tight around Mira's waist, fingers digging into the leather jacket like it was the only solid thing left in the world.
