Damien Bennett stood frozen at the kitchen doorway, his expensive suitcase dropping from his hand with a heavy thud.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
His precious daughter — the little girl who looked so much like her late mother — was kneeling on the floor covered in blood and tears, desperately protecting her baby brother from his own wife.
“Caroline,” Damien’s voice was dangerously low, like thunder before a storm. “What the hell is going on here?”
Caroline spun around, her face shifting instantly from rage to fake sweetness.
“Darling! You’re home early! I was just disciplining the children. Lily broke another glass and—”
“Disciplining?” Damien’s eyes burned with fury. He stepped forward and gently took Oliver from Lily’s arms, then helped his daughter stand up. His gaze fell on the fresh cut on her palm and the bruises visible on her arms.
“These are not discipline marks, Caroline. These are signs of abuse.”
Lily looked up at her father with wide, tear-filled eyes. For the first time in months, she felt a glimmer of safety.
“Daddy… she makes us sleep in the doghouse,” she whispered. “When you’re not here… she doesn’t give us food sometimes. Oliver cries a lot because he’s hungry.”
The words hit Damien like bullets.
His face turned deathly pale, then flushed with uncontrollable anger. He turned to Caroline, who was now backing away.
“You did what?!” he roared. “You put my children in a doghouse?!”
Caroline tried to defend herself. “They’re spoiled and ungrateful! I was teaching them a lesson—”
Damien didn’t let her finish. He pulled out his phone and dialed his head of security.
“Lock the gates. Caroline is not allowed to leave. Call the police and child protective services. Now.”
Within minutes, the mansion was swarming with security guards. Caroline’s elegant mask completely shattered as she screamed and cursed, but Damien remained ice-cold.
He carried both children upstairs to the master bedroom, away from the chaos. For the first time in months, Lily felt warm blankets and a soft bed. Damien personally cleaned and bandaged her wounded hand while Oliver slept peacefully between them.
