DON’T STOP (Lila and Darrell) novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Norman

The gala was still running at full pace when I walked back inside – conversations flowing, glasses clinking, the whole machine of it turning smoothly like nothing had happened outside.

I straightened my jacket and moved through the crowd.

I heard it before I heard something really loud. A raised voice cutting through the low hum of the room, sharp enough to urn heads at the nearest tables. I followed the sound and found them near the far end of the floor: Daisy and a man I vaguely recognized from the energy sector, older, broad-shouldered, his face red, and his finger pointed close to her face Daisy stood completely still, chin up, eyes cold, not backing up an inch.

His arm began to rise.

was already moving.

crossed the distance in seconds and caught his wrist before it went anywhere, holding it firm. “What are you doing?”

The man turned to look at me, jaw tight, chest heaving with whatever argument had brought him to this point.

looked at him steadily, my grip not loosening.

Then Daisy stepped forward and slapped him. Twice. Clean and unhesitating, the sound cutting through the nearby conversation like a crack of thunder. The people closest to us went completely silent.

let the man go.

turned to look at Daisy.

she was already stepping back, expression unmoved, like she hadn’t just slapped a senior industry figure twice at a black-ti

ala.

Why did you do that?” I asked.

he scoffed and reached past me to lift a wine glass from the nearest table, then turned and walked away through the tunned cluster of onlookers like none of them existed.

The man was standing with one hand pressed to his face, the skin beneath his palm deepening to red. He looked at me I

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ooked at him.

I’m sorry,” I said. “Let me go and talk to her.”

found her outside.

she was standing on the balcony, both hands resting on the railing, looking out over the city. The night was cool and quiet out here, the lights of downtown spread out below in every direction, the noise of the gala sealed away behind the glass foors. She had her wine glass in one hand, the other wrapped around the railing, and she wasn’t looking at me even though she’d clearly heard me come out.

“Daisy.” I came to stand a few feet behind her. “Why would you slap someone that much older than you? In front of everyone.” I shook my head. “You always cause trouble. You never change, do you.”

She was quiet for a moment.

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Chapter 02

Then she turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder

“And would you ever change. Norman'”

I blinked. “What?”

She held my gaze for one second, then turned back to the city.

‘I want to be alone,” she said. “Just go away.”

‘I shouldn’t have even come to help you back there.”

I said it before I could stop myself and walked back inside without waiting for her response.

冠

The balcony doors closed behind me, and I moved back into the warmth and noise of the gala, straightening my jack bushing the whole thing down. She wanted to be alone. Fine. She could be alone.

I looked around for the man.

He was gone.

scanned the room twice before stopping a waiter nearby. “The man who was arguing earlier, the older one – do you where he went?”

The waiter’s expression shifted. “Security removed him, sir.”

‘Removed him? Why?”

A nearby guest turned slightly, lowering their voice. “He was caught recording women. Under their dresses. One of the caught him on it, and he denied it and tried to hit her when she pushed back.” The man paused. “They pulled the CCTV ootage. It was all there. Security threw him out immediately.”

stood very still.

The lady who caught him,” I said slowly. “Was she wearing a black gown?”

The man nodded.

The noise of the room seemed to drop away for a moment.

Daisy had caught him doing it. She had confronted him, and he had denied it and then raised his hand a her, and I had walked over and grabbed his wrist and then turned around and asked her why she had caused trouble

had told her she never changed.

She had looked at me and said, “And would you ever change. Norman?”… And I had walked away

‘Fuck.”

It came out louder than I intended. A woman nearby glanced over I ran my hand through my hair and turned back toward the balcony doors, moving through the crowd faster than was polite

I pushed though the doors.

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