The slap came out of nowhere. Caroline Lynn stood frozen, her hand hovering over her stinging cheek, her mind reeling.
When the shock finally wore off, tears welled up in her eyes, hot and angry. "Dad! You... you hit me!"
She couldn't believe it. Her father, who had doted on her since she was a baby, who had never raised a hand against her, had just slapped her in public over a worthless piece of trash like Conrad.
"Are you crazy? She's your daughter!" Martha Pierce shrieked, rushing forward to grab Arthur’s arm.
Arthur shook her off violently. "She's this way because you've spoiled her rotten since birth! Look at her attitude!"
He turned his fury on his wife. "Don't think you're blameless. I don't care what you have to do. Kneel, beg, kowtow—I don't care! You get Conrad back. If he d
