2. Character Reactions: The Father’s Betrayal
The ceremony began with a suffocating tension. The priest, a nervous man who clearly sensed the drop in barometric pressure within the room, rushed through the opening prayers. Vanessa stood at the altar, her back rigid. She kept glancing over her shoulder, checking the back of the room, as if expecting Clara to pull a gun.
Clara didn’t need a gun. She had the truth.
Suddenly, Marcus Sterling stepped away from the altar where he had just “given away” his daughter. Instead of taking his seat in the front row, he turned and marched back up the aisle. The guests shifted uncomfortably. This wasn’t in the program.
Marcus stopped at the last pew. He loomed over Clara, blocking out the light. Up close, he smelled of expensive scotch and old leather—the scent of Clara’s childhood, the scent of her trauma.
“You have some nerve,” he hissed, his voice low and vibrating with venom. “Showing your face here. After everything you’ve done to ruin this family.”
Clara looked up at him through her dark glasses, then slowly removed them. Her eyes were dry. “Hello, Dad. Nice to see you too.”
“Get out,” he ordered. He reached out and grabbed her upper arm. His grip was painful, digging into the exact spot where a metal plate now held her humerus together. “I will have security drag you out if I have to.”
“Let go of me,” Clara said, her voice eerily calm.
“Why are you here, Clara? To embarrass your sister? To beg for money? Or just to be spiteful?”
“I was invited,” Clara lied smoothly.
