Chapter 2
For a moment, all I heard was the wind pushing snow against the windows.
My father had been dead for six years.
A heart attack.
Sudden.
Cruel.
One phone call on a Wednesday morning had split my life in two.
Daniel had held me at the funeral.
Diane had brought casseroles.
Robert had shaken hands with relatives.
And all this time, there had been something from my father hidden inside a brown envelope.
My voice came out small.
“What did my dad leave?”
Robert handed me a letter.
The paper trembled in my good hand.
My father’s handwriting filled the page.
Emily,
If Robert gives you this, then I was right to worry.
You love deeply. That is your gift. It is also what selfish people will use first.
I never trusted the way Daniel looked at what you had instead of who you were.
The house on Marigold Lane was placed in a family trust before your wedding. You are the sole beneficiary.
Do not let anyone convince you that love requires surrendering your safety.
My eyes blurred.
Marigold Lane.
This house.
The house where Diane had just ordered me to leave.
The house where Daniel sat at the head of the table like a king.
My father had protected me from beyond the grave.
Diane lunged for the letter.
Robert caught her wrist.
“Sit down.”
Her face twisted.
“How dare you bring this up now?”
“Because you hit her.”
“She insulted me.”
“She asked why Daniel’s business account had withdrawn twelve thousand dollars from her savings.”
The room froze again.
I turned slowly.
Daniel’s eyes shifted away.
My voice shook.
“What?”
Robert placed a bank statement in front of me.
There it was.
My savings account.
The one I built before marriage.
The one Daniel had no right to touch.
Multiple withdrawals.
Three thousand.
Four thousand.
Five thousand.
Transfers to D.K. Consulting.
Daniel’s company.
My stomach dropped.
“I never approved these.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“It was temporary.”
I stared at him.
“You stole from me.”
“I borrowed from my wife.”
“No,” Robert said. “You forged her authorization.”
Diane slapped the table.
“Don’t speak to my son like he’s a criminal.”
Robert looked at her.
“He is acting like one.”
Kyle muttered, “This is insane.”
Melissa started crying, though no one had touched her.
I almost laughed.
I had been slapped, burned, robbed, and humiliated.
But Melissa was crying because the truth made dinner uncomfortable.
Daniel stood too quickly.
“Emily, let’s talk upstairs.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“We are husband and wife.”
I lifted my burned hand.
“Not after tonight.”
He stepped around the table.
Robert moved between us.
“Stay where you are.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“You’re choosing her over me?”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
“I am choosing right over wrong. Something I should have done years ago.”
Diane stood.
“Years ago? You mean when you started taking her side because she smiled at you and made you feel important?”
Robert flinched.
Then I saw it.
A crack.
Something old.
Something rotten.
Robert looked at me with grief.
“Emily, your father contacted me before the wedding. He asked me to keep an eye on Daniel’s finances.”
Daniel shouted, “Dad!”
Robert kept going.
“He had found gambling debt.”
My heart stopped.
Daniel’s face went white.
I whispered, “Gambling?”
Diane pointed at Robert.
“You promised.”
“I promised to help him recover,” Robert said. “Not help him bleed his wife dry.”
I looked at Daniel.
Every late night.
Every missing paycheck.
Every “investment meeting.”
Every time he said I was paranoid for asking simple questions.
It all rearranged itself into something hideous.
“How much?” I asked.
Daniel said nothing.
Robert answered.
“Almost eighty thousand that I know of.”
The room spun.
I grabbed the chair.
Daniel reached for me.
I backed away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Diane’s voice went cold.
“You think you can survive without him? You’re nothing without this family.”
I looked at the deed.
At my father’s letter.
At my ring beside Daniel’s plate.
Then at my burned hand.
“I have been surviving this family for years.”
Robert picked up his phone.
“What are you doing?” Diane demanded.
“Calling an ambulance for her hand.”
“No police,” Daniel said quickly.
Robert looked at him.
“That depends on Emily.”
All eyes turned to me.
For years, I had protected Daniel.
From creditors.
From shame.
From consequences.
My hand throbbed.
My cheek burned.
My father’s letter rested against my chest.
I looked at Robert.
“Call them.”
Diane gasped.
Daniel whispered, “Emily, don’t do this.”
May you like
I met his eyes.
“You did this.”
