Gemotions

"He *what*?" Martha shrieked, her voice cracking. Her perfectly coiffed hair seemed to stand on end. She stared across the table at the lawyer, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her father, the meticulous, controlling man who had shaped her life, had fathered a child with another woman? The absurdity of it all was overwhelming.

She slammed her fist down on the polished mahogany table, the force of the blow jarring her entire arm. This was not the life she knew. This was not the carefully curated reality she had always believed in. The lawyer flinched. Martha pushed away from the table, a wave of heat washing over her. She needed to leave.