Chapter 2
My father ended the call before I could ask another question.
I stared at my phone.
Daniel moved toward me.
"Give me that."
I stepped back.
"What?"
"Your phone."
His tone was low now.
Controlled.
That frightened me more than yelling would have.
I pulled Emma behind me.
"Don't come near us."
Daniel stopped.
For three years, he had told me his mother was harmless.
Difficult.
Blunt.
Traditional.
He had a hundred gentle words for cruelty.
But standing there with my skin burning beneath a soaked sweater, I suddenly saw something else.
Fear.
Not fear for me.
Fear of what my father knew.
Linda seemed to see it too.
She looked at Daniel.
"What does Robert know?"
Daniel didn't answer.
My stomach tightened.
"What does my father know?"
George Harrington rose from his chair.
"Everyone needs to calm down."
I laughed once.
It sounded broken.
"Your wife just hit me."
George frowned toward Linda as if she had spilled wine.
"She shouldn't have done that."
"That's all you have to say?"
"Sarah, emotions are high."
Emma pressed her face against my hip.
I felt her trembling.
That ended the conversation for me.
I crouched despite the pain.
"Baby, look at me."
Her cheeks were wet.
"Are you okay?"
"Grandma hit you."
"I know."
"Are you going to die?"
My heart cracked.
"No. No, sweetheart."
I pulled her close.
"I'm okay."
My chest didn't feel okay.
The soup had soaked through my sweater and blouse.
I could feel heat radiating from my skin.
Melissa finally stood.
"You should put cold water on that."
I looked at her.
She had laughed earlier.
Now she couldn't meet my eyes.
"Don't touch me."
She stopped.
Daniel stepped closer again.
"Sarah, let's go upstairs and talk."
"There is nothing to talk about."
"You're upset."
"Your mother assaulted me."
"Stop saying it like that."
I stared at him.
"Like what? Accurately?"
Linda scoffed.
"Oh, please. I slapped you. You act as though I stabbed you."
Emma flinched.
I felt rage rise so quickly that my hands shook.
"Do not speak in front of my daughter again."
Linda's mouth opened.
Then lights flashed through the front windows.
Blue.
Red.
Blue again.
Someone near the table whispered, "Police?"
Daniel swore under his breath.
Linda turned on him.
"You told me her father wouldn't involve anyone."
My entire body went cold.
I looked at Daniel.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing."
"You told her what?"
The doorbell rang.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
George headed toward the foyer.
My father entered before he could reach the door.
Two police officers followed him.
Behind them was a woman I recognized immediately.
Maya Patel.
My father's attorney.
She had handled my mother's estate when I was twenty-three.
I hadn't seen her in more than a year.
The moment Dad saw me, his face changed.
Not dramatically.
My father rarely showed anger loudly.
But his jaw tightened.
His eyes moved to my wet clothes.
Then to the red mark across my cheek.
Then to Emma.
He walked directly toward us.
"Come here."
I nearly collapsed against him.
Dad wrapped one arm around me and the other around Emma.
For a few seconds, I was thirty-two years old and four years old at the same time.
"I've got you," he whispered.
That was all it took.
I started crying.
Not because Linda had slapped me.
Not because the soup had burned me.
Because somebody finally acted like what had happened mattered.
One officer approached.
"Ma'am, we received a report of a domestic assault."
Linda stepped forward.
"This is ridiculous."
My father looked at her.
"Don't."
One word.
She stopped.
The officer asked me what happened.
I told him.
My voice shook at first.
Then it became steadier.
Linda interrupted twice.
The second officer warned her to stop.
Daniel stood near the table, pale and silent.
Just like before.
Only now his silence wasn't protecting his mother.
It was protecting himself.
The officer examined my wrist.
Finger-shaped marks were already appearing.
Then he looked at my chest.
"You need medical attention."
"I'm fine."
Dad shook his head.
"No, you're not."
An ambulance was called.
Linda started protesting when the officer told her she would need to provide identification.
"It was a family disagreement."
"You made physical contact?"
"She was leaving while I was talking."
"That wasn't my question."
Linda's expression tightened.
"I slapped her."
Daniel whispered, "Mom."
She looked at him.
"What? Everyone saw it."
My father turned toward Maya.
"Did you hear that?"
Maya nodded.
"Clearly."
The room changed.
Linda suddenly understood that nobody was debating whether something happened.
She had admitted it.
The paramedics arrived.
One led me toward the living room to examine the burn.
Emma refused to let go of my hand.
Dad came with us.
The skin beneath my collarbone and upper chest was red and blistering in two small areas.
The paramedic recommended the emergency room.
While she covered the burn with a sterile dressing, I heard voices from the dining room.
Linda was getting louder.
Then an officer said something about arrest.
Emma heard it too.
"Are they taking Grandma away?"
I didn't know how to answer.
Dad knelt beside her.
"Grandma did something wrong."
Emma looked at him.
"Because she hit Mommy?"
"Yes."
Her lower lip trembled.
"Nobody stopped her."
Dad's eyes moved toward me.
Something painful passed across his face.
"I know."
Then he said quietly, "I'm sorry."
I didn't understand.
"For what?"
"For believing Daniel when he told me I was overreacting."
My heart stopped.
"What are you talking about?"
Dad looked toward the dining room.
Maya appeared in the doorway.
"Robert."
She was holding a leather folder.
"We need to tell her."
Daniel rushed in behind her.
"No."
Dad stood.
"Too late."
I stared between them.
"Tell me what?"
Daniel's eyes were desperate.
"Sarah, not tonight."
I almost laughed.
"Tonight seems perfect."
Maya opened the folder.
Inside were copies of bank records.
Loan documents.
My name appeared across the top page.
Except the signature at the bottom wasn't mine.
I knew that immediately.
My father watched my face.
"Three months ago, I discovered Daniel and his parents had been moving money from the trust your mother left you."
I couldn't breathe.
"What?"
Daniel shook his head.
"It's not what it looks like."
Maya continued.
"They used documents carrying your signature."
I stared at him.
"You forged my name?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
He said nothing.
Linda shouted from the dining room.
"You ungrateful little bitch!"
One officer ordered her to turn around.
Metal clicked.
Handcuffs.
Emma jumped.
I held her closer.
Dad's voice became soft again.
"That's why I asked whether you were still inside."
"Why?"
He looked toward the walls of the mansion.
"Because this house is collateral for the money they took."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Maya handed me another paper.
"And as of yesterday morning, the Harringtons missed the final deadline to repay it."
I stared at the page.
My hands went numb.
"What does that mean?"
My father looked directly at Daniel.
"It means Linda wasn't entirely correct."
"What?"
His eyes returned to mine.
"This may be her house tonight."
May you like
He paused.
"But legally, Sarah, it may belong to you by morning."