Flames of Betrayal

I silently slipped off the bracelet, gripping it tight in my fist for a moment.

Everyone in the room held their breath.

Then, with a smile reaching my eyes, I passed the bracelet to her.

Simon kept his head down, lost in silence.

How ridiculous I felt, for a moment thinking he would remember the bracelet and intervene.

I was deluding myself.

With a smile, I told Ella, "It suits you beautifully."

I lifted Nicole up a bit more, holding her close, and walked away without looking back.

"Lily..."

Simon's voice trailed after me, but Julia cut him off.

"Just let her leave! We don't need that kind of negativity."

From the corner, Ella gasped and exclaimed, "Simon, I think the baby moved!"

"What? Let me have a feel."

I quickened my pace, their voices soon fading into the distance.

Back home, Nicole was still reeling from the news of her father's absence, her tiny face creased with sorrow, tears clinging to her lashes, her cheeks flushed from crying.

She gripped my hand, her voice quivering with the brink of tears. "I want Daddy to be there for my birthday again..."

I gently pushed her damp bangs aside and pulled her onto my lap, correcting her softly, "We call him Mr. Hoffman now, Nicole. He's not Daddy anymore. How about we go home, would you like that?"

Nicole's voice cracked with the strain of crying. "Isn't this supposed to be my home?"

"This is Mr. Hoffman's place, not ours. Just a little longer, and I'll take you home, sweetheart."

Nicole's teary eyes drifted to the grand piano in the corner of the living room, a birthday present from Simon last year.

Back then, she had been ecstatic, begging her father to teach her to play, feeling like the luckiest 'Princess Nicole' in the world. Simon had indulged her with a loving smile, his eyes brimming with fatherly affection.

However, that was all in the past.

"Can I have just one more birthday with Daddy?"

She was too young to let go, to call him anything else.

I did not chide her. Instead, I stroked her hair and said, "Alright, I'll talk to Mr. Hoffman."

Nicole was caught up in the grown-ups' storm, whether she liked it or not.

I would do whatever it took to make things right for her.