Chapter 2
I carried Ruby out of the party room while Lucinda screamed my name behind us.
I didn't turn around.
My daughter was trembling against my chest.
Every small movement made her cry.
"Daddy, it hurts."
"I know, baby."
I kept one arm beneath her knees and the other firmly around her back, taking care not to twist her injured leg.
A hotel employee hurried ahead to clear the hallway.
Near the elevators, I heard footsteps approaching.
"Daniel!"
Lucinda appeared behind us.
Her face was furious.
"Are you seriously leaving me here?"
I stopped.
"An ambulance is coming."
She threw her hands into the air.
"For a little ankle pain?"
I stared at her.
"She has a fractured lower leg."
"That's what the doctor said."
My stomach tightened.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Lucinda folded her arms.
"Children exaggerate injuries all the time."
Ruby buried her face against my shoulder.
I felt her fingers tighten around my collar.
Then she whispered something that nearly destroyed me.
"Daddy, please don't make me stay with her."
I looked down.
"What?"
Ruby shook her head desperately.
"Please."
Lucinda heard her.
"Oh, now she's turning you against me?"
I stepped backward.
"Stay away from us."
Her mouth fell open.
"Daniel!"
"Not another step."
Something in my voice finally made her stop.
The elevator doors opened.
I entered with Ruby.
And as they closed, I saw Lucinda standing alone in the hallway.
Her expression was no longer angry.
It was frightened.
At the hospital, everything happened quickly.
A nurse brought a wheelchair.
A doctor examined Ruby's leg.
They ordered X-rays to determine whether the fracture had shifted.
I stayed beside her the entire time.
Ruby refused to release my hand.
Even when the nurse tried to adjust her position, she looked at me first.
"It's okay, baby," I whispered.
The nurse smiled gently.
"We'll be careful."
After the examination, Dr. Angela Brooks entered the room.
She was a calm, middle-aged physician with kind eyes.
She looked at Ruby.
"Sweetheart, I'm going to speak to your dad for a moment. Is that okay?"
Ruby nodded.
Dr. Brooks turned toward me.
"The fracture appears to remain aligned."
I exhaled.
"Thank God."
"However, she's experiencing increased pain and swelling. We'll need to immobilize the leg again and arrange follow-up care."
I nodded quickly.
"Whatever she needs."
The doctor paused.
"Mr. Carter, can I ask how the brace was removed?"
I looked toward Ruby.
She was staring at the blanket.
"Someone pulled it off."
Dr. Brooks's expression changed.
"Pulled it off?"
I swallowed.
"My fiancée."
The room became quiet.
The doctor looked at me carefully.
"Was the brace removed against Ruby's wishes?"
"Yes."
Dr. Brooks nodded slowly.
"Thank you for telling me."
Then she turned toward my daughter.
"Ruby, did someone hurt your leg on purpose?"
Ruby didn't answer.
Her eyes filled.
I felt my heart breaking.
"Baby, you can tell the doctor."
She looked at me.
"Will Lucinda be mad?"
I leaned closer.
"You're safe here."
Her lips trembled.
Then she whispered:
"She said I didn't need it."
Dr. Brooks sat beside her.
"Did she do anything else?"
Ruby nodded.
"She cut the strap."
I removed the damaged piece from my pocket.
The doctor examined it.
Her face became serious.
"Mr. Carter, we need to document this."
I nodded.
"Please do."
She explained that the hospital would follow its procedures for suspected child abuse.
A social worker would also speak with us.
I didn't argue.
I wanted everything recorded.
Every word.
Every injury.
Every detail.
Because I had already made one terrible mistake.
I had trusted Lucinda around my daughter.
And I wasn't going to make another.
Later that night, Ruby finally fell asleep.
Her leg was supported in a temporary immobilizer.
I sat beside her hospital bed, watching her chest rise and fall.
She looked so small.
So fragile.
Her high puff had loosened during the chaos.
A few curls rested against her forehead.
I gently brushed them away.
"I'm sorry, baby," I whispered.
She didn't wake.
But tears slipped down my face.
I remembered the first time Ruby met Lucinda.
She had been five.
Lucinda brought her a pink stuffed rabbit.
Ruby had smiled shyly.
"Can I call you Auntie Lucinda?"
Lucinda laughed.
"Of course, sweetheart."
I thought they were beginning to love each other.
I thought my daughter had finally found another woman she could trust.
After Ruby's mother, Naomi, died, I had been terrified of raising our daughter alone.
I wanted Ruby to experience a warm home.
A family.
Someone who could help her with the things I didn't always understand.
I mistook Lucinda's attention for affection.
Now I wondered how long that affection had been an act.
My phone vibrated.
Seventeen missed calls.
All from Lucinda.
There were also dozens of messages.
"You're humiliating me."
"Ruby is manipulating you."
"Come back immediately."
Then one message caught my attention.
"Don't let Ruby tell the doctor anything."
I stared at the screen.
My fingers went cold.
Why would Lucinda care what a doctor heard?
I took screenshots.
Then I called my older sister, Denise.
She answered immediately.
"Daniel?"
Her voice sounded worried.
"I saw pictures from the party. What happened?"
I swallowed.
"Lucinda hurt Ruby."
Silence.
Then Denise whispered:
"What?"
I explained everything.
The shove against the brace.
The fall.
The injured leg.
The cut strap.
By the time I finished, Denise was crying.
"Oh, Daniel."
I covered my face.
"I didn't know."
Her voice hardened.
"I'm coming."
"It's late."
"I don't care."
She paused.
"Is Ruby safe?"
I looked at my sleeping daughter.
"Yes."
"Then keep her that way."
Forty minutes later, Denise arrived at the hospital.
She hugged me tightly.
Then she stood beside Ruby's bed.
My sister's eyes filled.
"That poor baby."
I looked down.
"I failed her."
Denise turned sharply.
"You didn't cause this."
"But I brought Lucinda into our lives."
She took my shoulders.
"Then you make sure she never gets another chance to hurt Ruby."
I nodded.
"I will."
Denise looked toward the door.
"There's something I need to tell you."
I frowned.
"What?"
She hesitated.
"I've been worried about Lucinda for months."
My heart sank.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I tried."
I stared at her.
She continued.
"Remember Christmas? When I told you Ruby seemed unusually quiet?"
I remembered.
I had brushed it aside.
I told Denise that Ruby was still adjusting to my engagement.
Denise swallowed.
"Ruby told me she wasn't allowed to sit beside you when Lucinda was home."
I felt sick.
"What?"
"She said Lucinda called her a clingy little baby."
My hands began shaking.
"Why didn't Ruby tell me?"
Denise looked heartbroken.
"She said she didn't want to ruin your happiness."
I sat down hard.
My daughter had been protecting my feelings.
While I was supposed to be protecting her.
Then Denise opened her handbag.
"I brought something."
She removed a small notebook.
A pink notebook decorated with stars.
I recognized it.
Ruby's diary.
Denise looked at me.
"She left this at my house last weekend."
I stared at it.
"Did you read it?"
"Only the page that was open when I picked it up."
She swallowed.
"Daniel, I think you need to see it."
I opened the notebook carefully.
The handwriting was uneven.
Large letters.
Some words misspelled.
But the sentence was clear.
"Lucinda says Daddy will stop loving me if I keep being bad."
My chest tightened.
I turned the page.
Another entry.
"She says my hurt leg makes me ugly."
I covered my mouth.
Then I reached the final page Denise had marked.
The date was from three days earlier.
And beneath a drawing of a small girl crying, Ruby had written:
"Lucinda said she has a plan to make Daddy send me away."
I stared at the words.
My heart began pounding.
Send her away?
Where?
And why?
Then I noticed another sentence written beneath the drawing.
"She said the doctor won't believe me after Friday."
I looked at the date.
Friday.
The day of the party.
May you like
The day Lucinda had cut Ruby's brace.
And suddenly, I knew I needed to find out what else she had planned.
