Chapter 1
The moment I opened my front door, I saw my seven-year-old daughter on the floor—and my husband’s mistress standing over her with one hand still raised.
I had only been home from work for three seconds, but I already knew something terrible had happened.
“Mom!” Lily screamed when she saw me.
I dropped my purse and ran across the living room.
Her cheek was bright red, and tears were pouring down her face.
My husband, Daniel, stood near the couch looking frozen.
Beside him was a woman I had never seen before.
“What did you do to my daughter?” I shouted.
The woman crossed her arms like she belonged in my house.
“She attacked me first.”
Lily grabbed my sleeve with shaking hands.
“Mommy, I came home and Daddy was hugging her.”
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
“Emily, calm down.”
That sentence made something inside me snap.
I looked at the woman again.
“Did you hit my child?”
She rolled her eyes.
“She pushed me, so I defended myself.”
“She is SEVEN!”
I lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
She screamed as I yanked her away from Lily.
“Don’t ever touch my daughter again!”
I slapped her across the face.
She grabbed my wrists, and suddenly both of us crashed against the couch.
Daniel tried pulling me away.
“Emily, stop!”
“Get your hands off me!”
The woman shoved me hard, and I stumbled into the coffee table.
Lily screamed again.
Then the woman pointed at me and yelled, “Tell her, Daniel!”
The room suddenly went silent.
I stared at my husband.
“Tell me what?”
Daniel’s face went pale.
The woman wiped blood from the corner of her lip and gave me a strange smile.
“You really haven’t told your wife yet?”
My stomach dropped.
“Told me what, Daniel?”
He looked toward Lily instead of answering.
Then Lily whispered something that made my entire body go cold.
“Mommy… that lady told Daddy I’m not allowed to live here anymore.”
I slowly turned toward my husband.
Before I could speak, the woman reached into her purse, pulled out a folded document, and placed it on our coffee table.
May you like
My name was printed across the top.
And underneath it were the words: “Petition for Emergency Custody.”
