Chapter 2
I did not walk to the altar.
I walked past it.
With Emily in my arms.
The music stumbled as the organist realized I was not standing where I was supposed to be.
Guests turned.
Whispers rose like sparks in dry grass.
Rebecca followed me quickly, her dress whispering over the floor.
“Daniel,” she hissed. “Stop.”
I did not stop.
I carried Emily to the front pew, where my sister Claire sat with her husband.
Claire stood immediately.
Her smile vanished when she saw Emily’s face.
“What happened?”
“Take her,” I said.
Emily tightened her arms around me.
“No, Daddy.”
I bent close.
“I am not leaving you. I need both hands for a minute.”
She looked at me.
“Promise?”
“With my whole life.”
Only then did she let Claire pull her gently into her lap.
Rebecca reached us.
Her voice was low, sweet, dangerous.
“Daniel, whatever Emily told you, she misunderstood.”
I turned.
The chapel went silent.
Two hundred people held their breath.
My father stood in the second row, frowning.
Rebecca’s parents looked offended already.
The priest waited near the altar, confused.
I lifted the note.
“Did you write this?”
Rebecca’s face paled.
“What note?”
I read it aloud.
Every word.
After the wedding, you will live somewhere better suited for children like you.
Do not upset your father.
He has already agreed.
By the time I finished, the room was so quiet I could hear Emily crying into Claire’s dress.
Rebecca pressed one hand to her chest.
“That was private.”
A gasp moved through the chapel.
I stared at her.
“Private?”
“She has been struggling,” Rebecca said quickly. “You know that. The school counselor. The nightmares. The attachment issues.”
“Attachment issues?” I said.
“She clings to you. She manipulates you with grief. I was trying to prepare her gently.”
My hands curled around the paper.
“For what?”
Rebecca looked around at the guests, then back at me.
Her eyes begged me to play along.
I did not.
“For what, Rebecca?”
She lifted her chin.
“For a therapeutic boarding program.”
Emily cried harder.
My sister stood.
“She is seven.”
Rebecca’s mother, Vivian, rose from the front row.
“It is an excellent program,” she said. “Very discreet. Many families use it.”
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
Vivian did not flinch.
“Rebecca was trying to save your marriage before it began.”
“There is no marriage.”
Rebecca’s head snapped toward me.
“What?”
I pulled off my boutonniere and dropped it onto the altar rail.
“This wedding is over.”
The words landed like thunder.
Rebecca staggered back.
“No. Daniel, you are emotional. You are embarrassed. We can discuss this privately.”
“You threatened my daughter ten minutes before our wedding.”
“I did not threaten her.”
I held up the note.
“You told her I agreed to send her away.”
Rebecca’s mouth opened.
Closed.
Then she turned to the crowd.
“You all know how hard I have tried. I loved that child like my own.”
Emily lifted her head.
“No, you didn’t.”
Her voice was tiny.
But everyone heard it.
Rebecca froze.
Emily slid down from Claire’s lap and stood beside me, gripping my sleeve.
“You said my mommy was dead and I had to stop acting like she mattered.”
The room changed.
My chest tightened so hard I could barely breathe.
Rebecca whispered, “Emily.”
Emily shook her head.
“You said Daddy would love you more if I was gone.”
I felt something inside me go dangerously still.
Rebecca’s mask cracked.
“That is not what I meant.”
I stepped between them.
“Do not speak to her.”
My father walked toward me.
“Daniel, maybe we should take this to a side room.”
I looked at him.
“Did you know?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation hurt.
“Dad.”
He looked away.
“Rebecca mentioned a school. She said you were considering options.”
“I never was.”
Rebecca said, “You signed intake forms.”
“No, I didn’t.”
She looked toward the side door.
Too fast.
I followed her eyes.
A man in a gray suit stood there holding a leather folder.
I had seen him once before.
Rebecca’s attorney.
He started backing away.
May you like
I pointed at him.
“Don’t move.”
