ied for five yea

ts, a Chicago love st

ate developer, ch

chool teacher, conten

ichael wanted a f

ift, quick

high-profile doctor at a p

congratulations

expectin

over the moo

yes shining with a joy

our perfect f

n Lake Forest was a

ead through me, a s

, a tiny, nagging diss

e nursery was almost r

inic for a routine check-u

e early, the wait

door was sl

Michael's and

her now," Michael's

ntial for high-risk

r. Peterson had always said th

next word

ers, schedule my wife's

Who was

on sounded

nth apart, they won't look like t

ichael's voice, devoid

e raised at the family estate in Lake

flew to

llness retreats to keep her occupied,

orld

planning to steal another woman

, to dis

d against my rib

love I felt – it all cur

way slowly

ted world of our "perf

xed with a dee

o this to me,

d. Not

chilling certainty, I h

y, that I could never look a

ust a crack,

l gone, replaced by a resolv

e a pawn in h

protect

protec