Chapter 2
The wooden cane hit the floor with a sharp crack.
Nobody moved.
Jason stared through the bedroom window.
Diane slowly stepped beside him.
“What is this?” she whispered.
I pushed myself upright against the headboard.
My arms hurt.
My shoulder burned.
But for the first time that morning, Jason looked more frightened than I felt.
The front door downstairs opened.
Jason turned toward me.
“You gave him a key?”
I didn’t answer.
Footsteps crossed the marble entryway.
Slow.
Heavy.
Controlled.
Diane rushed toward the bedroom door and locked it.
“Call the police,” she whispered.
Jason looked at her like she had lost her mind.
“You just told Emily the police wouldn’t care.”
“That was before six men showed up.”
A knock came from the other side of the bedroom door.
Once.
Then my father’s voice.
“Emily.”
My throat tightened.
“I’m here.”
Jason grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
“Tell him you’re fine.”
I looked at his fingers around my bruised arm.
Then I looked into his eyes.
“No.”
His grip tightened.
The door shook.
My father did not raise his voice.
“Take your hand off my daughter.”
Jason froze.
Diane whispered, “How could he know?”
Another voice came from the hallway.
“Mr. Bennett, we can open it.”
My father answered calmly.
“Do it.”
The lock broke a second later.
Two men entered first.
Then my father.
Michael Bennett looked exactly as he had at my wedding twelve hours earlier.
Dark suit.
White shirt.
Gray at his temples.
Calm eyes.
But something about him was different.
Yesterday, he had held my hand before walking me down the aisle.
Now he looked at Jason like he was studying a problem he had already decided how to solve.
His eyes moved to the cane.
Then to my arms.
Then to Jason’s hand around my wrist.
“Release her.”
Jason immediately let go.
Dad walked to me.
He didn’t ask permission.
He didn’t look at Diane.
He simply crouched beside the bed.
“Sweetheart.”
That one word almost destroyed me.
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m okay.”
His jaw tightened.
He gently touched the side of my face.
“Did he hit your head?”
“No.”
“Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
Jason finally found his voice.
“This is insane. You can’t break into my house.”
Dad stood.
“Your house?”
“Yes.”
My father glanced toward one of the men behind him.
“Thomas?”
The man opened a folder.
“Property was purchased eight weeks ago through a holding company. Current title is registered to Bennett Residential Holdings.”
Jason’s mouth opened.
I stared at Dad.
“What?”
Dad looked at me.
“You said you loved the house.”
Jason’s face changed.
I suddenly remembered.
Two months earlier, Jason had told me the seller had accepted his offer.
He had told me he handled everything.
I had never seen the final closing paperwork.
Dad had apparently been involved without telling me.
Diane stepped forward.
“You people need to leave.”
Dad looked at her for the first time.
She stopped.
“You smiled while he hurt her.”
Diane’s face went pale.
“I never touched Emily.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
Dad looked at the corner of the room.
A tiny black camera sat above the bookshelf.
Jason followed his eyes.
His expression collapsed.
I stared at it.
I had never noticed it before.
Dad said, “Emily asked me to install a security system after somebody tried her back door last month.”
Jason looked at me.
“You recorded us?”
“I didn’t know that camera was there.”
Dad turned to Thomas.
“Save everything.”
Jason suddenly stepped toward him.
One of Dad’s men moved between them.
Jason stopped instantly.
Dad looked at me again.
“Do you want the police?”
Diane laughed nervously.
“There. Finally. Somebody with common sense. Call them. Let them see this invasion.”
I looked at Jason.
Only yesterday, he had cried while saying his vows.
He had kissed my forehead while everyone applauded.
He had whispered that marrying me was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Now bruises were forming on my skin because I refused to hand him a plastic card.
“Yes,” I said.
Jason stared at me.
“Emily.”
“Call them.”
His anger returned.
“You’re really doing this?”
I looked at him.
“You did this.”
Dad nodded to Thomas.
Thomas made the call.
Diane moved closer to me.
Her voice became soft.
Motherly.
Fake.
“Emily, sweetheart, marriages get emotional.”
“Stay away from me.”
“You’re embarrassed. I understand.”
“I said stay away.”
Her smile vanished.
Jason pointed at my father.
“You think he’s some hero?”
Dad didn’t react.
Jason laughed.
“You don’t know him, Emily.”
Something in his voice made me pause.
Dad noticed.
“So that’s what this is,” he said.
Jason went silent.
“What?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
I looked from my father to my husband.
“What does he mean?”
Dad said, “Not now.”
My stomach tightened.
“No. You don’t get to say that.”
Diane smiled again.
This time there was something ugly behind it.
“Oh, this is wonderful.”
“Diane,” Jason warned.
But she ignored him.
“You really didn’t tell her?”
Dad’s eyes turned cold.
“Be careful.”
“Why? Afraid your precious daughter might finally learn what kind of man raised her?”
I looked at Dad.
“What is she talking about?”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
My father said nothing.
That frightened me more than anything.
Diane saw it.
She stepped closer.
“Ask him why judges attend his birthday dinners.”
“Stop.”
“Ask him why policemen used to escort you to school when you were little.”
“Diane.”
“Ask him why your husband knew exactly who you were before he ever met you.”
I stopped breathing.
Jason snapped, “Mom!”
I looked at him.
“What did she say?”
He looked away.
My heart began pounding.
“Jason.”
Nothing.
“Did you know my father before we met?”
“No.”
Diane laughed.
“You are a terrible liar.”
Jason turned on her.
“Shut up!”
Dad moved closer to me.
“Emily, we need to get you checked by a doctor.”
I stepped away from him.
“No.”
His face changed.
It was subtle.
Pain.
Maybe fear.
I had never seen fear on my father before.
“What did Jason know?”
Dad looked at Jason.
Jason stared at the floor.
Diane answered for him.
“Everything.”
The police arrived downstairs.
Doors opened.
Voices filled the hallway.
But I barely heard them.
I looked at the man I had married.
“You knew who my father was?”
Jason finally looked at me.
His eyes were wet.
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
“How long?”
He swallowed.
“Before our first date.”
The room became silent.
I thought about the coffee shop where we had supposedly met by accident.
The flowers.
The trips.
The proposal.
The tears at the wedding.
Every memory suddenly felt contaminated.
I whispered, “You targeted me.”
Jason stepped toward me.
“No. It didn’t start like that.”
Dad moved between us.
Jason stopped.
I stared at him over my father’s shoulder.
“What was supposed to happen?”
Jason’s face twisted.
“Emily, please.”
“What was supposed to happen?”
Diane folded her arms.
“You were supposed to become family.”
I looked at her.
She smiled.
“And family shares money.”
Two police officers entered.
They saw the cane.
They saw my bruises.
They saw Jason.
One officer asked, “Ma’am, are you Emily Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to tell us what happened?”
I looked at my husband.
Then at his mother.
Then at my father.
Yesterday I thought I had started a new life.
That morning I realized I had walked directly into a trap.
May you like
“Yes,” I said.
“I want to tell you everything.”
