Margarethe's face drained completely of color, her earlier cruel confidence entirely replaced by dawning, horrified realization as she processed her husband's devastating revelation. "That's not possible," she whispered, though her voice carried far less certainty than it had only minutes earlier.
"It's entirely possible," Edmund replied sharply, his voice carrying barely restrained fury as he stepped closer toward his wife. "Our son has been quietly supporting Sofia's recovery for the past three years, grateful beyond words for the sacrifice she made to save his life. He planned to introduce her to this family properly, once he felt she was ready to face people like you."
Margarethe's hands trembled visibly, her earlier aristocratic composure completely shattered under the weight of her husband's furious, devastating words. "I didn't know," she stammered weakly, though the words carried little comfort given the cruelty she had just publicly inflicted.
Edmund's hand moved swiftly, delivering a sharp slap across Margarethe's face before anyone could intervene, the sound echoing loudly through the stunned, silent ballroom. "You have just destroyed my only heir's entire future," he said, his voice deep and furious, carrying easily across the crowd of shocked onlookers, "the moment you decided cruelty was more important than basic human decency."
Margarethe stumbled backward, her hand flying instinctively to her own stinging cheek, shock and humiliation flooding her expression as she registered the full, catastrophic weight of what her actions had just cost her family.