Chapter 8
We went out for pizza that night to celebrate.
Lila ate three slices of pepperoni, her face covered in sauce, laughing as Ethan made silly faces at her across the table.
It was the first time I’d seen him truly happy since the wedding.
After dinner, we walked to the small park down the street, the sun setting pink and orange over the trees. Lila ran ahead, chasing a butterfly, her sparkly new sneakers slapping the pavement.
“Catch me, Daddy!” she yelled, giggling, and Ethan ran after her, his long legs eating up the grass, roaring like a monster.
I hung back, smiling, watching them, my heart full.
For a second, I let myself believe it was really over. That Victoria was gone, that we could all finally breathe.
I was wrong.
One second, Lila was laughing, ten feet ahead of us.
The next, a figure in a black hoodie jumped out from behind a big oak tree, grabbing Lila’s arm, yanking her off her feet.
Lila screamed, loud and sharp, a sound that would haunt my nightmares for years.
“Let go of me!” she shrieked, kicking, squirming, but the person held on tight, dragging her toward a dark sedan parked by the curb.
“LILA!” Ethan roared, and we both ran as fast as we could, our legs pumping, our hearts hammering.
The hood fell back, and I saw her.
Victoria.
Her face was wild, her hair messy, her eyes crazy with rage.
“If I can’t have you, no one can!” she screamed at Ethan, dragging Lila closer to the car. “You’ll pay for ruining me! You’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what happened to her!”
A man walking his golden retriever saw what was happening. He dropped the leash, ran forward, and tackled Victoria to the ground before she could open the car door.
Lila fell free, scrambling away, sobbing, and Ethan caught her, dropping to his knees, holding her so tight I thought he’d never let go.
The police arrived five minutes later, sirens blaring.
They cuffed Victoria, reading her her rights, and she screamed and spat, fighting the officers the whole way to the car.
“You’ll regret this, Ethan!” she shrieked, as they put her in the backseat. “I’ll get out! I’ll find her! I’ll—”
The door slammed shut, cutting her off.
The police told us Victoria was being charged with attempted kidnapping, violation of the temporary restraining order Ethan had gotten after the wedding, and the DA was pressing additional charges for fraud—for faking the pregnancy, for paying off the hospital to block Mia’s calls, for the lies she’d told to CPS and Ethan’s boss.
She was facing up to five years in prison.
We drove home in silence, Lila curled up in Ethan’s lap in the backseat, her face buried in his shirt, her small body still shaking.
When we got inside, Ethan carried her straight to her room, sitting on her pink bed, rocking her back and forth, singing her lullaby over and over until her sobs slowed.
I made hot chocolate, sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting until she finally fell asleep, her hand still fisted in Ethan’s shirt.
We tiptoed out of the room, closing the door softly behind us.
Ethan leaned against the wall, his face pale, his hands still shaking.
“I almost lost her,” he whispered, his voice broken. “One second longer, and she would’ve been gone.”
I put my arm around him, holding him tight.
“But you didn’t,” I said. “She’s here. She’s safe. Victoria’s gone. She can’t hurt us ever again.”
He nodded, but I knew it would take time for the fear to fade.
For both of them.
May you like
But as I looked down the hall at Lila’s closed door, at the drawing she’d taped to it of our little family, I knew we’d get through it.
Together.
