Silence fell over the Moretti living room as Marie finally spoke.
“Beg her.”
The words landed like a stone in water, rippling through the room.
Celia stared at her mother as if she had misheard. “Beg her? What do you mean by that, Mommy?”
But Thomas already understood. His shoulders slumped slowly, dread tightening his face. Mr. Moretti let out a long, defeated sigh, the weight of their collapsing world pressing heavily on his lungs.
“So that’s it,” he muttered bitterly. “Off to beg that girl we threw out like trash.” His tone sharpened with resentment. “Celia, look at what you’ve done. Now we have to crawl back to that girl and ask for mercy.”
His pride was shattered. He felt he could banish and do away with Emilia after bringing disgrace into the family and at the end of the day, s
