Chapter 7
The story broke the next morning.
Every news channel in the country was talking about the Carter family scandal.
Millionaire Mother and Son Poison Pregnant Daughter-in-Law.
Estate Plot Turned Murder Attempt.
Secret Will Reveals Decades of Greed.
Paparazzi camped outside the safe house the DA had put us in.
Reporters called Liam’s phone every two minutes.
Everyone wanted a comment.
Everyone wanted to know if the rumors were true.
Liam turned his phone off after the first 50 calls.
He held a press conference three days later.
I stood beside him, my hand in his, my small baby bump just starting to show under my dress.
Cameras flashed.
Reporters yelled questions.
Liam held up his hand, and the room went quiet.
“Every rumor you’ve heard is true,” he said, his voice clear and strong.
“My mother, Margaret Carter, and my brother, Jason Carter, poisoned my wife for four months. They tried to kill her and my unborn daughter to steal my father’s estate. We believe they also murdered my father three years ago, when he tried to stop them.”
He held up the will, the medical report, the bank statements, one by one.
“We have proof. All of it. They will be held accountable for every single thing they’ve done. My wife and I are not going anywhere. We’re going to raise our daughter, and we’re going to make sure no one in our family ever has to be afraid again.”
He looked down at me, his eyes soft.
“I failed to protect my wife once,” he said.
“I will never fail her again.”
The press conference played on every channel that night.
By morning, the tide had turned completely.
People were sending us thousands of messages of support.
Distant family members called to apologize, to say they’d always thought Margaret was cold, that they should have said something.
Liam’s business partners called to offer their help, to say they’d stand by him no matter what.
A week later, the medical examiner called.
They’d exhumed Liam’s dad’s body.
They found the same toxin in his system that they’d found in mine.
Higher doses.
Enough to cause a heart attack in a healthy man.
The DA added first-degree murder to the list of charges against Margaret and Jason.
I was 14 weeks pregnant now.
The doctor said the toxin was completely out of my system.
Our baby girl was growing perfectly.
Strong heartbeat.
Right on track.
We heard it for the first time at that appointment.
A fast, steady whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
Liam cried.
I cried.
The doctor smiled and handed us a photo of the ultrasound.
We bought a new house a month later.
Not the mansion—too many bad memories.
A smaller, brighter house in a gated community, with a big backyard and a nursery with yellow walls.
We had 24/7 security, cameras everywhere, a state-of-the-art alarm system.
I never felt scared anymore.
Not when Liam was beside me.
Not when I felt our baby kick for the first time, soft and fluttery, inside my stomach.
The trial was set to start in two months.
The DA said it was an open-and-shut case.
We had more than enough evidence to put both Margaret and Jason away for life.
Hale was going to be our star witness.
He’d already given his statement to the police, told them everything.
He even brought his granddaughter to meet us once.
A tiny 7-year-old with pigtails, who gave me a drawing she’d made of our baby.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I could breathe.
May you like
Like the worst was over.
Like we were finally going to get our happy ending.
