Chapter 1
“Apologize to my mother.”
Ryan stood outside the dog kennel with the key in his hand.
I gripped the metal bars and struggled to breathe.
At eight months pregnant, I could barely sit inside the cramped cage. My back screamed. My bare knees pressed against the dirty concrete.
“I’m not giving Diane my bank card,” I said. “That money is for our child.”
My mother-in-law watched from the patio with a glass of lemonade.
“You’re selfish, Emma,” Diane said. “Ryan should control the finances.”
“The account belonged to my grandmother.”
“And you married my son. What belongs to you belongs to him.”
My baby kicked painfully.
I wrapped both arms around my stomach.
“Please let me out.”
Ryan crouched in front of the kennel.
“Say you’re sorry. Give Mom the card and the PIN.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“Then stay in there.”
He stood and walked toward the house.
That was when the side gate flew open.
My father stormed into the yard.
“Open that cage.”
Ryan froze.
“Robert, this is a private family matter.”
Dad crossed the lawn.
“My pregnant daughter is locked in a kennel.”
“She became violent.”
“I refused to hand over my money!” I shouted.
Dad looked at me through the bars.
His face changed when he saw the bruises around my wrist.
“How long have you been in there?”
“Almost three hours.”
Dad turned toward Ryan.
“Give me the key.”
Ryan stepped backward.
“You have no right to enter my property.”
Dad grabbed the kennel door and shook it.
“If you don’t open this cage, I’ll tear it apart.”
Diane rushed over.
“Emma needs discipline. She doesn’t respect her husband.”
Dad stared at her.
“She is a grown woman, not your prisoner.”
Ryan finally unlocked the door.
Dad helped me crawl out.
My legs collapsed.
He caught me before I hit the ground and guided me toward a chair.
Then Ryan grabbed my arm.
“She’s staying here.”
Dad ripped his hand away.
He shoved Ryan into the open kennel and slammed the metal door.
Before Ryan could turn, Dad locked it.
“You treated my pregnant daughter like an animal,” Dad said. “Now wait for the police like one.”
Ryan kicked the bars.
“You’re going to jail!”
“No,” Dad replied. “You are.”
Diane lunged toward a folder on the patio table.
Dad blocked her and picked it up first.
“Give me that!”
He opened the folder.
Several legal documents were inside.
The first claimed I suffered from severe mental illness.
The second authorized Ryan to control my bank accounts.
The final document was a guardianship petition for my unborn child.
It stated I was an unstable mother who intended to abandon my baby after birth.
Diane was named as the permanent guardian.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I had never seen the paper before.
“Those are forged,” I whispered.
Dad turned another page.
Ryan had signed as a witness.
Diane had signed as the proposed guardian.
Then Dad reached the final signature.
His face went pale.
“What is it?” I asked.
He handed me the document.
My mother, Linda Carter, had signed a sworn statement claiming I was dangerous, confused, and incapable of raising a child.
I stared at her name.
Mom had helped them.
Sirens approached the house.
Diane tried to grab the documents again.
Dad pushed her back and held them above her reach.
“You’ll regret this,” she hissed.
“You planned to steal my grandchild.”
Police entered the yard.
Ryan immediately started shouting from the kennel.
“He attacked me! My wife is mentally unstable!”
I pointed toward the patio camera.
“It recorded everything.”
An officer checked the footage.
The video showed Ryan dragging me outside, forcing me into the kennel, and locking the door while Diane demanded my bank card.
Police opened the cage only to place Ryan in handcuffs.
They arrested Diane beside him.
Dad handed over the forged papers.
As paramedics examined me, I held my stomach.
“None of you will ever touch my child.”
Ryan stopped beside the police car.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “Your mother signed because she knows what you did.”
“What did I do?”
He smiled.
“Ask her what happened to your first baby.”
My heart stopped.
This was my first pregnancy.
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At least, that was what I had always believed.
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