Chapter 1
I came home two days early from a business trip and found my three-year-old daughter sitting outside our front door, soaked from the rain and crying from hunger. Then I walked inside and saw my husband laughing over dinner with another woman.
I dropped my suitcase right there in the driveway.
“Mommy!” Lily cried when she saw me.
She was barefoot, trembling, and hugging her little knees against her chest.
I ripped off my coat and wrapped it around her.
“Baby, why are you outside?”
Lily’s lips were shaking.
“Grandma said I was bothering Daddy’s special dinner.”
My stomach turned.
I carried her into our suburban Dallas home and heard laughter coming from the dining room.
My husband, Ryan, was sitting at the table beside his mother, Patricia.
Across from them sat a beautiful blonde woman I had never seen before.
There were steaks, wine, candles, and a chocolate cake on the table.
Ryan’s smile disappeared when he saw me.
“Emily? You weren’t supposed to be home until Wednesday.”
I stared at him.
“Our daughter was sitting outside in the rain.”
Patricia casually lifted her wineglass.
“She threw a tantrum, so I gave her time to calm down.”
“She’s three!”
The blonde woman looked uncomfortable, but Ryan stayed in his chair.
“Emily, don’t make a scene.”
That sentence broke something inside me.
I set Lily safely on the couch, marched back into the dining room, and shoved both hands under the edge of the table.
Plates crashed, wine spilled, and the entire dinner hit the floor.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ryan shouted.
“I’m making a scene.”
Patricia screamed and lunged at me.
She grabbed my hair from behind and slapped me across the face.
“You ungrateful little psycho!”
I spun around and shoved her hands away.
“You left my baby outside like a dog!”
Ryan grabbed my arms instead of stopping his mother.
Then the blonde woman suddenly stood up.
“Ryan, you told me Emily knew.”
The room went silent.
I slowly turned toward her.
“Knew what?”
Ryan released me, but he couldn’t look me in the eye.
Patricia wiped wine from her blouse and smiled.
“Since you came home early, you might as well find out tonight.”
She reached beneath the overturned table and picked up a folder that had fallen beside her chair.
My name was printed across the top.
Underneath it were the words PETITION FOR DIVORCE AND EMERGENCY CUSTODY.
May you like
But what made my blood run cold was the date.
Ryan had filed it three days before I even left for my business trip.
