Daphne was sitting on the sofa, looking surprisingly
subdued. Daddy stood in front of her, his hands on his
hips, looking much stronger. I gazed from him to
Daphne, who shifted her eyes from me guiltily. "I told Gisselle the truth," I said.
"Are you satisfied now?" Daphne fired at
Daddy. "I warned you she would eventually destroy
the tender fabric that held this family together. I
warned you."
"I wanted her to tell Gisselle," he said. "What?"
"It's time we all faced the truth, no matter how
painful, Daphne. Ruby is right. We can't go on living in a world of lies. What you did to her was bad. But what I did to her was even worse. I should never have
made her lie, too."
"That's easy for you to say, Pierre," Daphne
retorted, her lips trembling and her eyes unexpectedly
tearing. "In this society, you will be forgiven for your
indiscretion. It's almost expected for you to have an
affair, but what about me? How am I to face society
now?" she moaned. She was crying. I never thought
I'd see tears emerge from those stone cold eyes, but
she was feeling so sorry for herself, she couldn't
prevent it.
In a way, despite all she had done to me, I felt
sorry for her, too. Her world, a world built on
falsehoods, on deceits, and propped up with blocks
and blocks of fabrications was crumbling right before
her eyes and she couldn't stop it.
"We all have a lot of mending to do, Daphne. I,
especially, have to find the strength to repair the
damage I've done to people I love."
"Yes, you do," she wailed.