Chapter 2
The police station smelled like stale coffee and regret.
I sat in a plastic chair, holding Frederick against my chest.
His fever was still high, but he had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Amy sat beside me, wrapped in a blanket an officer had given her.
She hadn't spoken since we left the house.
Her hands were shaking.
Her eyes were red and swollen.
I wanted to hold her, to tell her everything would be okay.
But I didn't know if it would be.
My mother was in another room, screaming at the top of her lungs.
I could hear her through the walls.
"This is my son's house!"
"I have every right to be there!"
"He's just confused because of that woman!"
That woman.
She meant Amy.
My wife.
The mother of my child.
The woman who had given up her career to take care of our family.
And my mother had reduced her to nothing.
An officer came over to us.
"Mr. Bradley," he said gently.
"We need to ask you some questions about the deed."
I nodded.
"I've never seen that folder before in my life," I told him.
"I keep the deed in a safe in my home office."
The officer wrote something down.
"Your cousin Mason says your mother asked him to retrieve it."
"Says she needed it for 'family business.'"
I felt my blood run cold.
Family business.
She had been planning this for who knows how long.
"Is my mother under arrest?" I asked.
The officer nodded.
"Assault on a police officer, trespassing, and we're looking into potential fraud charges related to the deed."
"Mason is also being detained for questioning."
I looked at Amy.
She was staring at the floor.
"Amy," I said softly.
She didn't look up.
"Baby, look at me."
Slowly, she turned her head.
Her eyes were empty.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered.
"I had no idea."
She blinked.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"She told me you knew," Amy said quietly.
"Said you agreed that I should 'earn my keep.'"
My heart shattered.
"What?"
"Every time I tried to call you at work," Amy continued, her voice breaking.
"She told me you were busy. That I shouldn't bother you."
"She said you sent her the money because you trusted her more than me to manage the household."
I felt sick.
"Amy, I would never—"
"I know," she interrupted.
"I know now."
"But for months... I thought you were ashamed of me."
"Thought I wasn't good enough anymore after having the baby."
I pulled her close.
Frederick stirred in my arms but didn't wake.
"You are everything to me," I said fiercely.
"You and Frederick. Everything."
She cried into my shoulder.
And I held her.
And I let her cry.
Because I knew she had been holding it in for far too long.
When the officer came back, I told him everything.
About the three thousand dollars a month.
About my mother claiming she was helping Amy.
About how I had no idea any of this was happening.
He took notes.
Then he asked Amy if she wanted to press additional charges.
For the emotional abuse.
For the coercion.
Amy looked at me.
Then she looked at our sleeping son.
"Yes," she said firmly.
For the first time that night, her voice was strong.
"I want to press charges."
The officer nodded.
"We'll need a statement from you as well, Mrs. Bradley."
As Amy stood up to follow him, she squeezed my hand.
And for the first time since I walked through that back door, I felt a flicker of hope.
Maybe we would get through this.
May you like
Maybe we would be okay.
But as I sat there holding my son, listening to my mother's screams fade down the hallway, I knew our lives would never be the same.
