Chapter 1 - THE DOOR SHE SLAMMED ON HER DAUGHTER
Emily ripped the suitcase out of Sophie’s hands and hurled it onto the rain-soaked porch.
The zipper split halfway open.
Jeans, T-shirts, underwear, and a gray college sweatshirt spilled across the wet concrete.
“Mom!”
Sophie lunged after them.
Emily snatched the clothes still trapped in her daughter’s arms and threw those outside too.
“Mom, please! What did I do?”
Emily pointed toward the street.
“I’m done supporting you. Get out.”
Sophie stared at her.
For one second, Emily nearly broke.
Then she saw the dark pickup turning onto their Naperville cul-de-sac through the narrow window beside the front door.
Mark was home early.
Emily’s stomach tightened.
There was no time.
Sophie grabbed the doorframe.
“Please.”
Emily pried her fingers loose.
Sophie was crying now.
Not angry.
Not even fighting.
Just destroyed.
Emily shoved the suitcase toward her with one foot.
“Don’t ever come back.”
Then she slammed the door.
The sound shook the framed family photographs in the foyer.
Emily locked the deadbolt.
Outside, Sophie stood motionless in the rain.
Emily pressed her forehead against the door for half a second.
Forgive me.
The garage door opened.
She stepped away.
By the time Mark entered from the mudroom, Emily’s face was blank.
He stopped when he saw the wet footprints near the entrance.
“Where’s Sophie?”
Emily kept her back against the door.
“She’s gone.”
Mark studied her.
“What happened?”
“I threw her out.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You finally got tired of her?”
Emily nodded.
Mark walked closer.
Too slowly.
She recognized that walk.
He had used it three nights earlier when Sophie accused him of opening her mail.
Mark stopped inches from Emily.
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
His hand struck her cheek.
Hard.
Emily’s head snapped sideways.
She caught herself against the door.
Outside, Sophie saw the movement through the narrow pane of glass.
Her expression changed.
Mark reached for the lock.
Emily moved in front of him.
“Move.”
She didn’t.
“Sophie!” he shouted through the door.
Emily looked over his shoulder at her daughter.
Then she mouthed one word.
Run.
Sophie stared at her.
Emily mouthed it again.
RUN.
Understanding slowly replaced heartbreak.
Sophie grabbed the suitcase.
Mark heard the wheels scrape across the porch.
He turned toward Emily.
“You threw her out to protect her from me?”
Emily slid the second deadbolt into place.
Click.
Mark’s face changed.
The performance was over.
Emily looked straight at him.
“If she has to decide which one of us to believe, she’ll believe me before she believes you.”
Outside, Sophie started running through the rain.
Mark stared at Emily.
May you like
Then he asked the question she had been afraid he would ask.
“How much did you find?”
