Within two minutes, Chloe’s expression shifted. The smugness faded into confusion. She pressed a hand to her forehead, wobbling in her heels as the glass slipped from her fingers and shattered against the marble floor.
The sound cut through the party.
“Chloe? What’s wrong?” Daniel rushed toward her, his face draining of color. His eyes flicked from the broken glass to me—pure panic.
He knew.
Victoria stormed across the garden, but she was too late.
Chloe suddenly burst into laughter—loud, uncontrollable, unnatural. She pointed at guests, shouting insults no one would ever dare say out loud. She staggered between tables, knocking over decorations she had mocked moments earlier.
Then the laughter turned into sobbing.
Raw. Uncontrolled.
She collapsed onto her knees right in the middle of the bounce house.
The children fell silent.
The adults stared in horror.
Victoria tried to grab her, but Chloe shoved her away violently.
“Don’t touch me, Mom! You and Daniel are disgusting!” she screamed, her voice echoing across the garden. “You’ve been planning all week to drug Emma so you could have her declared insane and steal the company she’s hiding! You’re both pathetic, living off her money!”
