o

ie Br

y. Never ag

ed for her left hand. The four-carat diamond solitaire felt like a shackle. She t

as pale, indented.

"-glinted mockingly. She dropped the ring into the thick envelop

te on the front of the envelope in

s assistant, opened the rear door and unbuckled a sleeping Elara from her car seat

e gone to a private club," Carter sa

rried the child upstairs. Carter drove the

door beepe

grabbing the envelope. She stepped out of th

ing perfume. His tie was undone, hanging loos

gainst the wall to pull off his shoes. "Do

She didn't move to take his coat.

rble console table near the door.

past her toward the stairs. "Whatever

voice steady, cutting through hi

rling his lip. "Future? As long as you stop moping and act like

ught she was handing him a brochure for

t, Caden,

muttered, trudg

n had bought. Just her jeans, her hoodies, and a small, heavily encrypted hard drive she had kept hidden in the back of her underwear dr

ting the coffee. She jumped whe

Holl

e on the table. "Martha. When Mr. Holloway wakes up, g

Gone? But... where? Miss

"She won't. If she does... te

latch clicked shut. A final

ours

ull. He groaned, rolling over. T

oaked. No answer

the hallway, looking terrified. She saw him and

Holloway left this. Sh

ng at the envelope. "Drama queen,

ingtone from the kitc

. "Hang on." He answere

s... they're saying I looked fat in the photos last

, I'm on it." He grabbed his coat

r-" Martha tried to

her fingers and slid down the side of the foyer sofa

e time for her tantrums right now!"

fa. The envelope was barely visible. She reached down to retri

deal with her

st another complaint letter about Caden's late nights. Too afraid to di

-