Lady Matilda's voice carried through the grand hall, firm though tinged with weariness.
"With this, every official document in the Santiagos' name is hereby revoked, as well as every position handled in the Santiagos' name and group."
The silence that followed was suffocating. At the end of her speech, she turned away from the podium.
Her hands clasped behind her, her back slightly hunched, she walked with the heaviness of someone bearing the weight of decades.
Her steps were steady, but every stride whispered of pain and finality.
They had been family for long, but rather than destroy the Santiagos' family's peace, tradition, name, and belief, she better maintain this decision.
This moment pulled her back to the day she severed Nora's ties with the Andersons.
She had cried and mourned, begged her daughter to reconsider, but Nora had turned a deaf ear.
Lady Matilda had been forced to wield the blade of family law then, as she was now.
