The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 723

Danny sighs, gently prying the glass from her trembling fingers and setting it on the counter. Without another word, he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest in a tight, grounding embrace.

"You're allowed to be heartbroken," he murmurs against her hair. "You can cry. You don't have to bottle this up and pretend you're invincible. You might have resented him, but he never actually tried to destroy you the way your brothers did. You have beautiful memories with him. It's completely normal to feel like your world is shattering now that he's gone."

Every word strikes the very core of her heart. Tara goes rigid in his arms, her fingers curling into white-knuckled fists at her sides. Her eyes burn. A hot, uncontrollable tear slips down her cheek, followed by another, but she doesn't make a sound. She simply stands there, letting Danny hold her together. His clean, comforting scent of cedar wraps around her, slowly unspooling the tightly wound tension in her chest.

For years, she convinced herself she was a fortress. She believed she could shoulder any burden and brush off any emotional blow. But standing here with him, her bulletproof armor crumbles. She is actually crying for the father she swore she hated. When she imagined him hitting rock bottom, she always thought she'd feel nothing but vindication. But death erases the petty grudges, leaving only a hollow, echoing ache.

Looking back, her father was always absent and negligent, but he never actively targeted her. In fact, there were quiet, easily missed moments where he secretly smoothed things over for her. Once she learned that his relationship with Jovani was nothing more than a calculated act, the cracks in his narrative started to show. Charles Dennis was a man buried in secrets, and his sudden murder suggests those secrets finally caught up with him.

After a long, heavy silence, Tara takes a shaky breath and steps back slightly. "I'm fine now. Really."

Her voice is thick with unshed tears, completely betraying her words.

"I know," Danny replies softly, stroking her back like he's soothing a frightened child. "But no matter what happens, I'm staying right here with you."

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