CHAPTER TWENTY – RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

Presently, Lillian swept in wearing an aura of practiced calm, though the subtle tightening around her eyes telegraphed the tension thrumming beneath that polished veneer. "Richard, please," she chided in a lowered tone as she eased herself in to sit opposite Charlotte, laying one elegant hand across her forearm. "Threats and bluster will only beget more of the same circus." "Then what the bloody hell are we supposed to do, Lillian?" Richard exploded, knuckles going white around the crystal tumbler of scotch he'd just poured himself with shaky hands. "Just turn the other cheek while they continue twisting the knife into our little girl's back on a daily basis?" A heavy silence fell over the room as the two parents sized each other up, the current of tension between them sparking almost palpably. Finally, Lillian gave the barest shrug of her sloping shoulders before turning to fix her daughter with an inscrutable look. "We fight back, of course," she stated simply. "Only this time..