“I’m overwhelmed,” I said softly.
“I just found out this morning.
I need to sleep.”
His face relaxed.
“There she is.
My sensible girl.”
He kissed my forehead.
I felt nothing except the cold certainty that I couldn’t stay in that house.
Then he asked the question I’d been dreading.
“Where’s the ticket?”
“In a safe place.”
“Show me.”
“I will tomorrow.”
His hand closed around my wrist.
Not hard enough to leave a mark.
Just enough to remind me that he expected obedience.
“Emily.”
I met his eyes.
“Mark, if you really love me, let me have one night.”
Something changed in his expression.
He released me.
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Celeste closed the folder.
But as they walked into the living room, I heard her whisper, “She’s stalling.”
Mark answered so quietly I almost missed it.
“Then tomorrow we stop asking.”
That night, I slept with my bedroom door locked and a chair pushed beneath the handle.
