The sound of the slap—no.
The punch.
The punch still echoed.
Bianca's head had snapped to the side, her perfectly styled hair falling across her face as the entire restaurant collectively froze.
For half a second, no one moved.
Then Bianca slowly turned back.
Her cheek was already flushing red.
"You fucking whore—"
She lunged.
There was no elegance in it. No grace. Just fury wrapped in perfume and expensive fabric.
Her hands hit Kara's shoulders and shoved hard.
Kara stumbled back into the edge of the table, glasses rattling violently. One tipped and shattered against the floor.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Bianca screamed.
"You don't get to talk to me like that!" Kara shot back, shoving her away.
Chairs scraped. Someone gasped loudly. A waiter cursed under his breath.
Bianca grabbed a fistful of Kara's hair.
Kara yelped and instinctively grabbed Bianca's wrist.
"Oh my God—" someone whispered nearby.
"Let go!" Kara yelled.
"Not until I beat some fucking sense into you!" Bianca snapped.
"FUCK YOU!" Kara twisted, trying to pry her fingers free.
"You stupid whore!" Bianca spat while punching Kara I the face.
"FUCKING BITCH!" Kara shot back.
Kara slapped the sides of Bianca's head so hard her ears burst.
Bianca shoved her again while screaming, grabbing her ears as she stepped back.
Kara stumbled, then surged forward, tackling Bianca backward into a nearby chair.
The chair tipped. They both crashed awkwardly against it.
Now the entire restaurant was in chaos.
Someone dropped a fork. A glass shattered somewhere else. Phones were out. Whispers were flying.
"You think you're tough shit?" Bianca spat, trying to slap her.
"You think you're better than everyone?!" Kara fired back.
They were no longer polished. No longer composed.
Just raw anger colliding.
Bianca managed to twist and push Kara off balance. Kara hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from her lungs.
Before she could fully recover, Bianca was over her.
"You're nothing but a fucking whore who's onky good at spreading her legs!" Bianca screamed, voice cracking. "You will always be a mistake!"
The words sliced.
And then—
"your father was the smartest man ever!" Bianca yelled punching Kara into the expensive floor. "I'm so glad he was smart enough to try and beat you... to try and kill you whenever he git the chance! His onky regret is that he wasn't able to finish you off!"
Everything stopped.
Not outside.
Inside.
The restaurant noise faded into a low hum.
Kara's body went still beneath Bianca.
Her ears rang.
Her father.
The word cracked something open.
Suddenly she wasn't on the restaurant floor anymore.
She was small.
The house was dim. The air thick with tension. A glass breaking. Heavy footsteps. Her father's voice booming—angry, unpredictable. Her mother standing in the doorway. Silent. Watching. Not stopping it.
"Slut," he'd said once. "All you're good for is spreading your fucking legs!" Her father screamed, slapping her so hard, it seemed she might had just died right then and there as her body banged against the floor.
Blood trickling down her forehead as she stared blankly at her mother in the doorway.
Just...
Standing there, with those dead eyes.
The word echoed now.
Her chest tightened.
Bianca was still yelling above her, but it sounded distant. Warped.
"Pathetic!" Bianca snapped. "You're pathetic!"
The memory blurred with the present.
Kara's eyes glazed.
Her hands stopped fighting back.
Her breathing grew shallow.
Bianca didn't notice.
Or didn't care.
She grabbed Kara's shoulders and shook her.
"Fight back!" she screamed. "What, you're done already?!"
Kara didn't respond.
Tears welled in her eyes silently. Not dramatic. Not loud.
Just slipping down her temples into her hair.
She wasn't there.
She was back in that hallway.
Small.
Frozen.
A sharp hit snapped her head to the side.
Bianca had punched her.
The restaurant gasped again.
"Bianca, stop!" someone shouted.
But Bianca was furious now—face flushed, hair messy, dignity long gone.
She hit Kara again.
And again.
Kara didn't lift her arms.
Didn't block.
Didn't move.
She just cried.
Soft, broken sounds escaping her without resistance.
Adam had been frozen for a split second too long.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Then something darker took over.
"Get off her."
His voice was low. Deadly.
Bianca didn't stop.
He grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back hard.
She stumbled, turning to scream at him—
And he punched her.
Clean.
Direct.
The impact sent her reeling sideways.
The restaurant erupted.
"Are you crazy?!" someone shouted.
Adam didn't care.
Bianca tried to regain balance, lunging toward him blindly in rage.
He shoved her back again.
"Touch her again," he warned, voice shaking with fury, "and I swear—"
She tried to slap him.
He blocked it and pushed her away with force. She fell backward against a table, knocking over plates and silverware in a violent crash.
Staff rushed forward now.
But Adam was already kneeling beside Kara.
"Kara."
She didn't answer.
Her eyes were unfocused. Tears still falling. Breathing uneven.
"Kara, look at me," he said urgently, cupping her face gently.
Her gaze flickered slightly.
Then dimmed.
Her body went limp.
"Kara?" His voice cracked. "Kara!"
Her head rolled slightly to the side as she lost consciousness.
The restaurant noise surged back in—shouting, footsteps, someone calling for an ambulance.
Adam gathered her carefully against him, panic replacing anger in an instant.
"Kara," he whispered.