Chapter 2

Ryan doesn't pretend anymore.

He pulls up to my building in a black SUV I've never seen, the kind with tinted windows and reinforced panels. There's a man in a dark suit standing by the passenger door. Another one across the street, watching.

Ryan rolls the window down. One hand on the wheel, relaxed. He flicks a cigarette out and crushes it between two fingers.

This is not the man who trembled at red lights.

He hands me a folder through the window. "Vanessa's worried you'll go through with the divorce over a misunderstanding. She asked me to explain everything properly."

I open the folder. It's a postnuptial agreement. Pages and pages of assets I never knew existed. Properties. Overseas accounts. A company called Blake Security Group, international contracts, private military clients, eight-figure revenue.

My husband, the one I fed and carried for six years, owns a security empire.

"Behave yourself, Emma. Lily has a trust fund. When she turns eighteen, she'll have enough to live on for the rest of her life." He smirks. "As long as she doesn't run off with some guy at eighteen like her mother did."

My fingers go white around the folder.

"Run off with some guy? Ryan, I was eighteen and the guy was you. You're calling that running off?"

He blinks. His eyes dart away. "That's not what I meant. Don't twist my words."

"I'm not signing this. I'm filing for divorce. You'll get the court papers."

He slams the steering wheel. "Why are you being like this? Fine, I kept things from you. But who told you not to ask? Lily has cerebral palsy, she can't run a company. So I'm leaving it to someone in your family. Vanessa's boy, Noah. Your nephew. He'll take over, and when he does, he'll take care of you and Lily. You should be thanking me."

He tells me to learn to be grateful. He says the fact that he didn't go find some other woman to give him a healthy heir already proves how much he respects our marriage.

I close the folder and toss it back through the window.

"Court papers. Watch your mailbox."

I go to pick up Lily. She's at my parents' place, Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda's.

Vanessa's there. So is Noah.

Vanessa's six years older than me, but strangers always think I'm the older one. She's wearing a silk scarf around her wrist, the exact shade of green I'd been eyeing for months but couldn't afford. It's holding a designer bag I could never dream of buying.

I notice a keychain on Noah's backpack. It's a character from Lily's favorite cartoon. Lily reaches for it.

Noah yanks it away and stomps on it. "I'll break it before I let you have it. I'll just tell Uncle Ryan to buy me another one."

Vanessa gives me an apologetic smile, but her eyes say something else entirely.

"Ryan bought that for Noah on a trip abroad. A birthday present." Then she tilts her head. "You know, Ryan rescued me because I'm the director of operations at Blake Security. I handle major accounts. If something happened to me, the company would suffer. I'm not like you, Emma, I'm not just a housewife. I actually help Ryan with his career."

"He never hid anything from you. Mom, Dad, and I all knew what Ryan does. You're the only one who didn't. Maybe you should've paid more attention to your husband." She pauses. "He's a hero. He just didn't want you and Lily being too dependent on him."

I'm about to tell her to get out when I hear it.

Lily's coughing. Hard.

I spin around. Noah has Lily's dinner bowl on the floor. There's a jump rope looped around her neck, and he's pulling it, forcing her head down toward the bowl.

"Come on, puppy! Eat your food!"

There are two red welts across my daughter's throat.

I shove Noah away. Hard. He stumbles and starts wailing.

Aunt Linda scoops him up instantly, rocking him, shushing him. Uncle Mark points at me. "What the hell is wrong with you? He's a child! You're always picking on him, picking on your sister, you've gone crazy!"

Ryan appears in the doorway. I don't know how long he's been standing there.

Lily sees her father. She reaches out her little hands.

Vanessa's faster. Her eyes are already red, her voice already trembling. "It's my fault. I haven't taught Noah well enough. He doesn't have a father to guide him." She nudges Noah. "Say sorry to Uncle Ryan. Quick."

Ryan looks at Noah's tearful face. Then at me. "Let it go, Emma. He's just a kid. Don't make this into something it's not."

He doesn't look at Lily's neck.

My daughter's arms are still reaching for him.

He doesn't see.