In a normal family, she knew this behavior would certainly have been noticed. Cassie imagined how Venetia would be asked if everything was all right, and encouraged to try the food. If she genuinely didn’t like prawns, a caring parent might provide an alternative just to ensure she didn’t go to bed hungry.
In the uneasy silence, Cassie found herself elaborating on her own version of reality, creating scenarios in her head as she ate.
And then Venetia reached for her water, but the glass slipped out of her hand and fell onto the table with a bang.
Water sluiced across the wooden surface, splattering over Nina’s plate and spilling onto Ms. Rossi’s lap.
Cassie’s gasp of horror was echoed by Venetia’s own terrified intake of breath.
“I’m sorry,” Venetia squeaked.
She sounded mortified, and Cassie noticed that in her distress, the young girl glanced at her as if appealing for help.
Cassie was already on her feet, reaching for table napkins to mop up the spill.
“It’s OK,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “It’s just water. No harm done.”
Ms. Rossi cleared her throat, managing to stop Cassie in her tracks with the sound.
“You will not interfere,” she said in a quiet, cold voice. “My daughter is the one who made the mess, and she is the one who will clean it.”
Venetia jumped up, looking stricken. Cassie noticed that Nina kept her eyes down, clearly too intimidated to speak a word.
“What a clumsy little girl you are,” Ms. Rossi continued in that soft, terrible voice as Venetia began to mop up the spill. “You are worthless to me and don’t even deserve to be called my daughter. You are a disgrace to us all—to me, to your family.”
Cassie clapped a hand over her mouth, staring at Ms. Rossi in horror as the vicious tirade of abuse continued.
“You have been fidgeting and misbehaving the whole way through dinner. I knew this was going to happen. I was waiting for you to show all of us how stupid you are, and you have done so now. In fact, you are not only stupid, but also ugly inside and out. I am ashamed of you, and you do not deserve to be called my daughter.”
Cassie stared from mother to daughter and back again. She had never believed a parent could say such things—and in front of a stranger, too?
Ms. Rossi seemed calm, choosing her words with leisurely care, and Cassie sensed that this abuse was not just a furious outburst, but was calculated to cause the maximum of emotional hurt and harm. Venetia had shut down completely. Her mouth was pressed together and her eyes were downcast, and only her rapid breathing and the shuddering of her shoulders showed Cassie the devastation that these words were wreaking.
Cassie suddenly realized why Ms. Rossi was speaking this way in front of her. It was because the businesswoman knew that she had the upper hand now. She had proof of Cassie rooting around in her private space, and this meant that she could hold her to ransom.
Ms. Rossi was in control now, and saw no need to carry on hiding what she did.
With a jolt, Cassie realized that meant she had nothing to lose, because she had lost it all already. In that case, she wasn’t going to wait for one more moment and listen to those vicious insults being flung at the miserable young girl.
“Stop it!” she cried, and saw everyone’s head jerk toward her.
Nina looked astounded. Venetia looked grateful for the unexpected intervention. Ms. Rossi appeared furious. Cassie saw the anger in her face, raw and vicious, before her mask came down again and the brief display of emotion was gone.
“This is your own daughter! All she did was knock over a water glass. It isn’t a crime. It didn’t stain. The glass didn’t even break.” Cassie gestured impatiently at the undamaged crystal. “I can’t sit here and listen to you unfairly criticize this little girl for making an innocent mistake. That’s what it was, a mistake. She’s eight years old. Her hands are small and that’s a big, heavy glass. I refuse to allow you to throw these horrific insults at her for something that wasn’t even her fault. I will not be complicit in this any longer, because it’s nothing more than child abuse.”
Cassie leaned toward the other woman, gesturing wildly as she spat out the final words.
Nobody else said anything, and the expectant silence seemed louder than her shouting had been.
Cassie dropped her hands and sank back down into her chair. Now that she’d retaliated, fear was creeping in. She had dared to defy a powerful, entitled woman who had proved she was an expert in the art of revenge.
She had crossed a forbidden line, and was going to suffer consequences. She felt it in the heaviness of the atmosphere, and she saw it in Ms. Rossi’s eyes as the other woman looked directly at her.
Worse still, Cassie feared that by speaking up, she might have made things even worse for Venetia. Guilt filled her at the thought, and she wished she’d considered it before she’d jumped up and shouted in the heat of the moment.
“You will come with me now, so that we can discuss this in private,” Ms. Rossi said in a deliberately soft voice.
Cassie found herself scrambling to her feet before the words had even sunk in.
Ms. Rossi swept out of the room and Cassie followed, dreading to think what punishment her actions had earned.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Cassie trailed on leaden feet into Ms. Rossi’s
