Chapter 3 - The Shards of Glass
"Stay back, all of you! Don't take another step!" Sarah screamed, her voice losing all semblance of refinement as she brandished the jagged piece of shattered mirror like a weapon. The glittering gold frame caught the church lights, casting erratic, blinding reflections across the white floral arrangements.
Guests in the front pews scrambled backward, chairs scraping loudly against the wooden floor. Mia flinched, stepping instinctively closer to her father, her small hand brushing against the dark fabric of his suit pants. "Dad, she's scary," Mia whispered, her lower lip trembling.
David felt a cold fury eclipse his grief. He wrapped his arm securely around Mia’s shoulders, shielding her from the erratic movements of the woman he had nearly married. "Put it down, Sarah," David commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register that made even the frantic woman pause. "Put the glass down right now before someone gets seriously hurt."
"You chose her!" Sarah laughed hysterically, tears streaming down her carefully contoured cheeks, ruining her makeup. "After everything I built for you, after I raised this ungrateful child when her real mother abandoned her to a padded cell, you're just going to throw it all away for a ghost?"
"She didn't abandon me," Elena called out firmly, stepping closer despite the threat of the broken mirror. She kept her eyes locked on David, ignoring Sarah's frantic threats. "David, read the document. It’s the original hospital admission slip from the night Mia was born. Sarah altered the registry. She changed the primary guardian's name while I was unconscious from the emergency C-section."
David’s heart hammered against his ribs. He looked down at the paper Elena held out, refusing to look away from Sarah's deranged expression. With his free hand, he slowly reached out and took the folded paper from Elena's trembling fingers.
The parchment was old, worn at the creases, but the ink was undeniably clear. Elena Vance. Mother. Legal custodian. Not Sarah Miller.
"Why?" David whispered, his voice cracking as he looked up at the woman standing in the ivory wedding dress. "Sarah, why would you do something so monstrous? We loved each other. At least, I thought we did."
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"Because you were broken!" Sarah snarled, her eyes wild as she brandished the jagged glass higher. "You were a grieving widower with a newborn baby and no idea how to survive. I fixed you! I gave you a family!" She lunged forward with the glass, aiming straight for Elena.
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