Chapter 2
Daniel did not let go of the strap.
Vanessa did.
Her fingers opened slowly.
The leather fell into Daniel’s hand.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Ethan remained against the wall.
His breathing came in short, frightened bursts.
Daniel looked at his son.
Then at the faint red mark spreading across Ethan’s arm.
Something inside him changed.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
It was worse than that.
His face became completely still.
“Ethan.”
The boy flinched.
Daniel’s expression cracked.
“Son, it’s me.”
Ethan stared at him.
Like he was trying to decide whether it was safe to move.
That hesitation hurt Daniel more than anything he had seen since entering the house.
He slowly dropped the strap to the floor.
“You’re safe.”
Ethan’s lower lip trembled.
Then he whispered, “Sophie.”
Daniel looked around.
“Where is she?”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Daniel, please. You don’t understand what happened.”
He raised one hand.
“Do not come closer.”
She stopped.
He had never spoken to her that way.
Not once in four years of marriage.
Daniel crouched beside Ethan.
“Where’s your sister?”
Ethan pointed weakly toward the coffee table.
Daniel turned.
At first, he saw nothing.
Then two tiny bare feet appeared behind the table leg.
His heart dropped.
He moved slowly.
“Sophie?”
No response.
Daniel got down on one knee.
There she was.
Curled beneath the table.
Her little body was pressed against the wall.
One hand held a stuffed rabbit against her chest.
The other covered her mouth.
Daniel felt sick.
“Sophie.”
Her eyes met his.
She did not crawl toward him.
She did not smile.
She stared past him.
At Vanessa.
And immediately began shaking harder.
Daniel looked over his shoulder.
Vanessa’s face had changed.
The fear was gone.
Now she looked irritated.
“She’s being dramatic.”
Daniel turned back slowly.
“What did you just say?”
“Daniel, she’s a toddler. She cries about everything.”
“She is fifteen months old.”
“Exactly.”
“And she is hiding under furniture because she is terrified of you.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“You’ve been gone for weeks. You have no idea what I’ve been dealing with.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“What you’ve been dealing with?”
“Yes.”
Her voice rose.
“Ethan lies constantly. Sophie screams whenever she doesn’t get what she wants. Your mother criticizes everything I do. The nanny quit. The housekeeper takes Ethan’s side. I have been holding this family together while you fly around the country acting like work matters more than anything.”
Daniel stared at her.
For one terrible second, guilt almost reached him.
Because there was truth buried inside the accusation.
He had been gone too much.
He knew it.
But guilt did not explain the strap.
It did not explain Ethan protecting his baby sister with his own body.
And it did not explain Sophie hiding from the woman who was supposed to care for her.
Daniel extended both hands beneath the table.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
Sophie still would not move.
Ethan whispered, “She won’t come out if Vanessa’s here.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“What?”
Ethan swallowed.
“She thinks Vanessa will get her.”
Daniel stood.
Vanessa immediately spoke.
“He’s manipulating you.”
Daniel stepped between her and the children.
“Go upstairs.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“What?”
“Pack a bag.”
“Daniel—”
“You are leaving this house tonight.”
Her face went pale.
Then angry.
“You can’t throw me out of my own home.”
“I can make sure you are nowhere near my children until I know exactly what happened here.”
“Your children?”
She laughed bitterly.
“They suddenly become your children when you come home early?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Vanessa pointed at Ethan.
“Ask him why I punished him.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“No punishment involves beating an eight-year-old until he protects a toddler from you.”
“I hit him once!”
Ethan whispered, “No.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward him.
Daniel saw it.
The look.
That tiny movement.
Instant.
Automatic.
Pure warning.
Ethan immediately lowered his eyes.
Daniel felt his blood turn cold.
He stepped directly into Vanessa’s line of sight.
“How many times?”
Ethan said nothing.
Daniel softened his voice.
“Son, look at me.”
Slowly, Ethan did.
“How many times has she hit you?”
Vanessa shouted, “This is ridiculous!”
Daniel pointed toward the stairs.
“Upstairs.”
“No!”
“Then leave without your things.”
She laughed.
“You think you can scare me?”
“No.”
Daniel reached into his pocket and took out his phone.
“I think the police can remove you.”
That stopped her.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
Vanessa’s confidence disappeared for half a second.
Then she lowered her voice.
“Daniel.”
He unlocked the phone.
“Don’t do this.”
He tapped the screen.
“Think about what this will look like.”
His thumb stopped.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You own a company preparing for a major acquisition. You have investors watching you. Reporters watching you. Your board already thinks your family life is unstable.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“No.”
He lifted the phone.
“You’re trying to protect yourself.”
A sound came from beneath the coffee table.
A tiny whimper.
Daniel immediately turned away from Vanessa.
He crouched again.
This time Ethan came beside him.
“It’s okay, Sophie.”
Ethan lay flat on his stomach.
“It’s Dad.”
Sophie stared at her brother.
Ethan stretched out his hand.
“She won’t get you.”
Slowly, Sophie crawled forward.
First one hand.
Then another.
Her rabbit dragged behind her.
Daniel stayed completely still.
When she finally reached the edge, Ethan touched her hand.
Sophie lunged forward.
Not toward Daniel.
Toward Ethan.
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
Ethan squeezed his eyes shut.
“It’s okay.”
Daniel nearly broke.
His eight-year-old son was comforting his baby sister like he was her parent.
Like he had been doing it for a long time.
Daniel gently lifted Sophie and Ethan together.
Sophie clung to Ethan’s shirt.
“Daddy’s here,” Daniel whispered.
Then Sophie did something strange.
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Box.”
Daniel frowned.
“What box?”
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Ethan turned sharply toward his sister.
“Sophie, no.”
Daniel looked from one child to the other.
“What box?”
Sophie pointed again.
“Box.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
Daniel stood.
Ethan grabbed his sleeve.
“Dad.”
His voice was barely audible.
“Don’t let Vanessa go into the garage.”
Daniel’s eyes moved to his wife.
Vanessa was already backing toward the kitchen.
“Why?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Because that’s where she keeps the black box.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What’s inside it?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Then he looked at Sophie.
“But Sophie saw her putting Mom’s things inside.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Vanessa went completely still.
Daniel’s first wife had been dead for three years.
Sophie was not her child.
But Ethan was.
And nobody in this house was supposed to have anything belonging to her.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“What things?”
Ethan answered quietly.
“Letters.”
Daniel’s heart began pounding.
“And pictures.”
May you like
Vanessa suddenly turned and ran.
Straight toward the garage.
