Chapter 2
Ryan looked like the floor had disappeared beneath him.
“My first wife?” he whispered.
I stared up from the tile, shaking from pain.
First wife.
He had told me his ex, Laura, left him.
He said she was cruel.
Unstable.
Ungrateful.
He said Diane had saved him from that marriage.
Dad’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ryan, I am calling 911. If Diane leaves, I will make sure police know you helped her.”
Diane grabbed the back of a chair.
“That man is lying.”
Ryan turned toward her.
“Mom?”
She lifted her chin.
“Laura was sick in the head.”
Dad said, “Laura had a fractured wrist, three cracked ribs, and a concussion. I have the hospital report.”
My stomach turned.
Ryan’s lips parted.
“You said she fell.”
Diane snapped, “She did.”
Dad’s voice hardened.
“She fell after your mother hit her with a fireplace poker.”
Diane screamed, “Lies!”
I heard sirens in the distance.
Ryan looked from his mother to me.
For the first time since I married him, he looked scared of the truth.
Not of Diane.
Not of me.
The truth.
I whispered, “You knew she hurt Laura?”
“No,” he said quickly.
Too quickly.
Diane pointed at me.
“She is doing exactly what Laura did. Turning everyone against me.”
I tried to move.
Pain shot through my leg so sharply I cried out.
Ryan finally knelt beside me.
“Emily—”
“Don’t touch me.”
He froze.
The sirens grew louder.
Diane backed toward the hallway.
Ryan stood and blocked her.
“Mom, stay.”
Her face twisted.
“You choose her?”
He looked at the rolling pin on the counter.
Then at my leg.
“I don’t know what I’m choosing yet.”
That answer told me everything.
Even now, he needed time to decide whether beating me was wrong.
When the police entered, Diane started sobbing.
“She attacked me first.”
Dad’s voice stayed on speaker.
May you like
“Officers, my daughter is injured on the kitchen floor. The weapon is on the counter. My name is Michael Carter. I am five minutes away with prior hospital records involving the same woman.”
Diane stopped crying.
