Family First

The room erupted into a frantic blur of motion and noise. Yasmine’s scream cut through the chaos like a blade, and Chris’s heart seized as he saw Christina lunging toward his wife, a jagged shard of glass glinting in her hand. The rest of the group scattered—Ashley screamed, Trey stumbled backward, and Kacy grabbed Marie, pulling her away from the fight. But Chris was already moving, his body acting on pure instinct before his mind could catch up.

He slammed into Christina from the side, his shoulder driving into her ribs with a force that sent them both crashing to the floor. The glass shard skittered away, spinning across the dusty concrete. Yasmine stumbled back, her hand pressed to her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Chris twisted, pinning Christina beneath him, but she was stronger than he expected, her wiry frame coiling with desperate energy.

“Get off me!” she snarled, her voice raw and venomous. Her eyes were wild, no longer the guarded, calculating gaze he’d seen before. Now they were feral, the eyes of someone who had nothing left to lose.