He looked miserable.
“Her company acquired the block several years ago.
Bellamy’s renewal has been under review for months.”
Now everyone understood why he had gone pale when I reached for my phone.
The woman looked back at me.
“You can’t do this.”
“I already did.”
“Over a child throwing a tantrum?”
My cousin stared at her.
“You still don’t hear yourself, do you?”
The woman waved a hand toward Noah.
“He disrupted a wedding.
I reacted.
That’s all.”
“You struck him,” I said.
She turned to the guests as though searching for support.
“You all saw what he was doing.
He was screaming.”
Nobody answered.
That silence was different from the one after the slap.
Before, people had been stunned.
Now they were choosing not to stand with her.
She looked at the man holding his phone.
“You saw it.
Tell them.”
He lowered the device.
“I saw you hit him.”
Her mouth opened.
He continued.
“And I recorded it.”
The woman went completely still.
I hadn’t asked him to record anything.
In fact, I’d resented the sight of the phone when he’d first raised it, assuming he wanted entertainment.
But now the same device had become something else: an independent record of exactly what happened.
The woman realized it too.
“Delete that.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You don’t have permission to record me.”
“You were standing in the middle of a wedding reception in front of a hundred people.”
She looked toward the groom’s uncle again.
“Do something.”
He didn’t move.
“I tried to stop you from making it worse.”
“You’re taking her side?”
“I’m taking the side of the child you hit.”
That finally broke through her composure.
She grabbed his arm.
“Do you understand what happens if we lose that location?”
There it was.
Not remorse.
Not concern for Noah.
The store.
Bellamy Diamonds occupied one of the most valuable corners on the block, a space with floor-to-ceiling windows and foot traffic that luxury retailers competed for.
Their existing agreement had been favorable because they were a long-term tenant, but renewal negotiations had stalled over several issues.
Nothing about my decision was an instant eviction.
