Bianca stumbled onto the table from the force of the slap, crashing into it so hard that the vase on top toppled over and shattered on the floor. She had always been gentle by nature, but this time, for Daniella’s sake, she fought back. Grabbing a shard of glass, she flung it straight at Gabriel.

Bianca snapped, “Abby has already been locked up, and now you want to throw Dani in too? Are you only happy when both of their futures are destroyed?”

“Go ahead and beat me to death if you want, but I’m still going to say what needs to be said!"

“Dani never felt secure in the first place. You brought Abby back, and that set off everything that happened after. This is all your fault!"

“Sure, Abby is tough enough to start over, but what about Dani? She has been blacklisted by the entire industry. Once she gets out of prison, her life will be over!”

Bianca broke down crying as soon as she finished speaking. Tears streamed down her face as she pointed at Gabriel and shouted, “You’ve never once thought about the kids. You were the one who screwed up, but you let Stevie take the fall."

“If it weren’t for Abby and Ralph stepping in, Stevie would be in prison right now. Did you ever stop to think about Stevie’s future?”

Gabriel was utterly livid, sneering, “Yeah, sure, it’s all my fault. But when I brought it up back then, you didn’t exactly fight me on it, did you?"

“And when Abby came back, you were always comparing her to Dani. Do not pretend otherwise. Do you think I started resenting Abby out of nowhere? You were the one feeding me all those comments!"

“Abby is not as refined as Dani, doesn’t eat as politely, doesn’t have flawless skin like her, looks awful in pink dresses, so cheap and tacky… Abby wanted to wear those little flower clips in her hair and asked you for some."

“You told me all of this, didn’t you? And now you suddenly care about Dani’s future? How fake can you be?”

With that, Gabriel yanked at his tie, frustration written all over his face. Storming around the room, he finally stopped and cast a scornful glance at Bianca, retorting, “Don’t go thinking you’re some saint of a wife and mother. You’ve gone along with everything I’ve done."

“When your two sons bullied Abby, all you did was give them a talking-to. Abby remembered it for years. She ended up in prison before she realized her own mother’s just as rotten.”

Bianca was shaking from head to toe, her face completely drained of color.

Gabriel snapped, “You’re worried about Abby now, but isn’t it only because you’ve caught Dani lying to you left and right?"

“She even went so far as to fake your favorite soup just to trick you. You two really are something. Such a loving mother and devoted daughter!”

With that, Gabriel stormed toward the door and yanked it open. But he didn’t expect to see Christian and Stephen standing right outside.

“What are you two doing just standing here?” Gabriel barked before shoving past them and walking off.

Bianca stood frozen in the room for a moment before her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. Shards from the broken vase dug into her palm, but she didn’t even feel it. Tears streamed down her face as she sat there, numb.

Christian rushed in and crouched beside her, quickly helping her up. “Mom…”

Bianca asked quietly, “Is this still a family?”

Stephen didn’t answer. He just gave her a cold glance and turned to leave as well.

The once-happy Gibson family had fallen apart. Back then, they had Abigail to blame for everything. Now that there was no scapegoat, the cracks showed in everyone. All the ugliness they used to hide had been dragged out into the light.

Christian called out, “Where are you going? Mom’s hurt!”

Stephen retorted, “Isn’t that Daniella’s problem? She’s the one Mom really cares about. What does that have to do with me?”

He stopped at the doorway, his handsome features twisted with disgust as he said, “Yeah, I hated who I used to be. But Mom, you weren’t any better. "

“Now I get why I used to think Abby didn’t deserve anything good. It was you planting those ideas in our heads the whole time.”

Gabriel’s words had stayed with Stephen.

Stephen remembered that not long after Abigail came home, she used to wear one of those butterfly spring hair clips that were all the rage with girls back then. When she walked, the butterfly would flutter like it was real.

It wasn’t anything expensive, and kids from modest homes loved that kind of thing. Daniella, who had only ever used luxury brands, had never seen anything like that before. So, she snatched it right off Abigail’s head.

Since Abigail couldn’t get the clip back, she went crying to Bianca. And Bianca’s response? She told Abigail it didn’t suit her at all, that it looked cheap and ugly on her, but said Daniella made it look like a real, fluttering butterfly.

And just like that, that cheap little butterfly clip became Daniella’s.

Stephen had come home from school that day to find Abigail sitting on the front steps of the villa. She was watching Daniella twirl around the yard in a flowery dress, dancing a waltz while Bianca sat nearby, clapping along with a smile.

Stephen couldn’t recall Abigail’s expression from back then. But thinking about it now, he felt like something was pressing hard against his chest, making it hard to breathe.

He mused, ‘Mom could’ve just bought another one. One for each of them. But no. She let Dani take Abby’s stuff like it was nothing.”

Christian saw the injury on Bianca’s hand and snapped, “Would you stop with the smug remarks?”

Stephen’s eyes stung. He shouted too, “She had it coming!”