Chapter 1
I came home early and found my six-year-old daughter tied up in the corner of our living room, crying so hard she could barely speak. Then she pointed toward my bedroom and whispered, “Daddy’s in there with that woman again.”
I dropped my work bag and ran to her.
“Lily, who did this to you?”
Her wrists were tied loosely with a scarf, but the red marks around them made my stomach turn.
“Daddy said I had to stay here.”
“Why?”
She wiped her face with her shoulder.
“Because I saw her.”
My heart started pounding.
“Who did you see?”
“The lady who comes when you’re at work.”
I untied Lily as fast as I could.
Then I heard laughter coming from my bedroom.
My bedroom.
My bed.
I told Lily to stay behind me and walked down the hallway.
The door was locked.
“Michael!”
Everything went silent.
I hit the door with my fist.
“OPEN IT!”
A few seconds later, I heard someone moving around inside.
I grabbed the wooden handle from the broken broom we had left beside the laundry room.
When Michael finally opened the door, he was wearing nothing but sweatpants.
Behind him, a woman I recognized from his office was pulling on her shirt beside my bed.
“Sarah, calm down.”
I stared at him.
Then at her.
Then back at him.
“You tied our daughter up so she wouldn’t tell me?”
Michael stepped forward.
“It’s not what you think.”
I lost control.
I swung the broom handle at his arm.
He shouted and backed away.
The woman screamed when I swung toward her too, and she scrambled off the bed.
“You both get out of my house!”
Michael grabbed the handle.
I pulled it back.
We struggled until it crashed against the dresser.
Then Lily appeared in the doorway.
“Mommy, stop!”
I immediately let go.
Michael looked at our daughter and shouted, “This is all your fault!”
That sentence changed something inside me.
I pulled Lily behind me.
The other woman suddenly started crying.
“I told you I wouldn’t do this anymore, Michael.”
I turned toward her.
“Anymore?”
Michael’s face went white.
She looked at Lily, then at me.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
Michael stepped between us.
“Don’t say another word.”
But she reached for her purse, pulled out her phone, and showed me a photograph that made my knees nearly give out.
May you like
Michael was standing beside another little girl who looked almost exactly like Lily.
And underneath the photo was a message from him that said, “Our daughters can never meet.”
