Meryl's POV
"I'm waiting, Meryl." His voice was barely above a whisper, but the controlled fury beneath those words made my blood run cold. This wasn't the calm before a storm - this was the eye of a hurricane, and I was standing right in the center of it.
My breath came out in short, uneven gasps. My hands wouldn't stop shaking no matter how hard I tried to steady them. Andre remained frozen beside me, every muscle in his body coiled tight like a spring ready to snap. The tension in the room was suffocating.
I forced myself to swallow past the lump in my throat. "It began that night. When Andre returned home. We were both there, alone in the house. Things escalated and I... I ended up sleeping with him."
The change in Dad's expression was immediate and devastating. His face turned to stone, but I pressed on before I lost my nerve completely.
