CHAPTER 2: The Smile Before the Push
Ava had spent the entire afternoon pretending she was happy. She smiled while the photographer posed her beside the balloon arch. She laughed while her friends recorded her opening expensive gifts. She tilted her chin when the makeup artist touched up her face and told her she looked like a movie star.
But beneath the sparkle, she had been furious.
Earlier that week, Daniel had refused to buy her the convertible she wanted. Not because he could not afford it, but because she had screamed at their housekeeper for accidentally placing the wrong shoes in her closet. Daniel had heard every word from the hallway: “You people are paid to make my life easier. How hard is that?”
He had taken the car keys out of the birthday envelope that night.
Ava had not forgiven him.
Her friends knew. Her boyfriend, Chase, knew. By the time the party began, the story had been twisted into something uglier: Daniel Mercer, the strict widower father, had ruined his daughter’s dream gift because he wanted to control her. Chase had joked that Daniel acted like “some washed-up security guard” instead of a millionaire. Ava had laughed, but the laugh had left a bruise inside her.
Now, standing by the pool in front of everyone, Daniel’s warning felt like another public punishment.
“You always do this,” she said, louder now. “You wait until people are looking, and then you act like I’m some terrible person.”
Daniel blinked. “I’m speaking quietly because I don’t want this to become a scene.”
“It’s already a scene because you walked over here like I’m a child.”
“You are my child.”
A few guests made soft sounds. Someone lowered a phone. Someone else raised one higher.
Ava hated how calm he sounded. She hated that he was wet-eyed but steady. She hated that he could look disappointed without shouting. It made her feel small, and on this night, in this dress, with a crown on her head, she refused to feel small.
Chase stepped closer behind her. “Ava, don’t let him talk to you like that.”
Daniel’s eyes shifted to the boy. “Stay out of this.”
Chase smirked. “It’s her birthday.”
Daniel returned his gaze to Ava. “Ava, I love you. That’s exactly why I’m saying this.”
The words should have softened her. Instead, they humiliated her. To a girl surrounded by fake applause and hungry cameras, love sounded like control.
Ava stepped forward and placed both hands against her father’s chest.
For half a second, Daniel did not move. He thought she was going to cry. He thought she was going to lean into him the way she had when she was little and nightmares chased her down the hall.
Then her hands shoved hard.
May you like
Daniel’s shoes slipped on the wet pool edge. His arms flew out. The party gasped.
And before anyone could stop it, Daniel Mercer fell backward into the bright blue water.
