The marriage certificate hung between Lyra and Eleanor, the proof she'd been desperate to show. Eleanor's hand trembled as she reached for it. Just inches away from her fingers, a manicured hand swooped in and snatched it.
"What nonsense is this?" Orla sneered, eyeing the document with contempt.
Lyra lunged forward. "Give that back! It's a legal document!"
Orla's lips curled into a malicious smile. Her eyes never left Lyra's as she deliberately dropped the certificate to the floor. With precise cruelty, she ground her heel into it, twisting until the paper crumpled and tore.
"Oops," she said with mock innocence. "How clumsy of me."
Something snapped inside Lyra. Years of restraint, of swallowing her pride, of enduring Orla's torments—it all erupted in a single moment. Her palm connected with Orla's cheek before she even realized she'd moved.
The crack echoed through the silent hallway.
Orla stumbled back, her hand flying to her face, eyes wide with shock. "You hit me!"
