Chapter 2
Olivia was still screaming when I ended the call.
“You can’t do this! You’ll ruin me!”
Chloe was already backing toward the basement exit, her champagne flute still in her hand.
I blocked the door with my body.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She froze.
Her eyes darted to Olivia, then to the policy on the table.
“I didn’t know anything about that,” she babbled. “That was all her. I just came for the party—”
“Shut up, Chloe!” Olivia shrieked.
I felt two small bodies press against the back of my legs.
Lily and Mia.
They’d followed me down the stairs.
Mia was whimpering.
I reached behind me without turning, put a hand on each of their heads.
“It’s okay,” I said, low enough only they could hear. “Daddy’s got you. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”
The next twenty minutes were the longest of my life.
Olivia alternated between screaming at me and begging.
She cried. She threw herself at my feet. She promised she’d change, she’d be the best stepmom in the world, she’d return every single thing she’d bought.
I didn’t say a word.
I just stood there, my girls behind me, and waited.
When the doorbell rang, Olivia went pale.
Chloe started crying.
Two uniformed cops walked in first, followed by Mark, his briefcase in his hand, his face like flint.
“Daniel,” Mark said, nodding at me.
“Thanks for coming.”
I gestured to the table.
“There’s a life insurance policy there. Fifty million dollars. Forged, I’m guessing. And these two have been starving my daughters while they spent my money on clothes and champagne.”
One of the cops stepped forward, picked up the policy.
His jaw tightened.
Olivia started screaming again.
“He planted that! He’s lying! Those little brats put him up to this—”
“Enough,” the cop said, sharp.
He looked at the girls, still hiding behind my legs.
Then he looked at the half-eaten moldy bread I’d slipped into a Ziploc bag as evidence, sitting on the counter by the stairs.
“Ma’am,” he said to Olivia. “You’re under arrest for child endangerment. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
He cuffed her.
Chloe tried to run for the back door.
The other cop caught her before she got three steps.
She was cuffed too, screaming that she was innocent, that her lawyer would hear about this.
They led them out.
Olivia twisted her head around as she passed me, her face twisted with hate.
“I’ll get you for this, Daniel! You’ll never see a dime of that money! I’ll take everything!”
The door shut behind them.
Silence.
Thick, heavy silence.
I turned around.
Lily was staring at the floor.
Mia was sucking her thumb, her eyes wide.
I knelt down in front of them.
I pulled them both into my arms, so tight I was almost afraid I’d hurt them.
They melted into me.
Lily started crying first, quiet sobs that shook her whole body.
Mia followed, wailing into my shoulder.
I held them.
I didn’t say anything.
I just held them, and let them cry, and promised myself over and over again that I would never, ever let anyone hurt them like this again.
When they finally calmed down, I carried them upstairs to the kitchen.
I made them their favorite.
Spaghetti with meatballs.
Extra parmesan.
They ate like they hadn’t had a real meal in weeks.
Lily finished two full plates.
Mia ate so fast she got sauce on her cheek.
I wiped it off with a napkin, my throat tight.
“Slow down, baby,” I said. “There’s plenty more. No one’s going to take it away.”
She looked up at me, her mouth full.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
That night, I pulled the extra mattress from the guest room into the girls’ bedroom.
I slept on the floor between their two beds.
Every time one of them stirred, I reached up and held their hand.
I didn’t sleep much.
I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, replaying every moment of the last three months.
All the times Olivia had told me the girls were “fine.”
All the times I’d believed her.
All the times I’d chosen work over being home.
I’d failed them.
I’d failed my wife when she was alive, and now I’d failed our daughters.
I closed my eyes.
May you like
Tomorrow, I’d fix it.
Whatever it took.
