Chapter 2
Emma spoke for nearly an hour with the advocate.
Daniel heard only what Emma later chose to tell him.
Margaret had begun with insults.
Comments about pregnancy weight.
Comments about Emma “using the baby” to make Daniel soft.
Complaints that she rested too much.
Complaints that she ate the wrong things.
Then the rules changed.
If Daniel was away, Emma was expected at every family dinner.
If she declined, Margaret accused her of separating Daniel from his relatives.
If Emma tried to leave the table early, Caleb stood near the doorway and told her to sit down.
Once he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into the chair.
Another time Margaret grabbed Emma’s wrist after she refused a glass of wine.
Emma had fallen against a cabinet trying to pull away.
That explained one older bruise.
Daniel stared at the floor.
“Why didn’t you leave the house?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“What happened?”
“Caleb took my car keys.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“He said the driveway was iced.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you call a car?”
Emma’s expression became tired.
“They disconnected the Wi-Fi twice.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Landline?”
“Margaret said it was being repaired.”
“It works.”
“I know that now.”
Every answer sounded like another door Daniel should have seen.
Emma continued.
The fish scraps had started two nights earlier.
Margaret knew Emma could not tolerate the smell during pregnancy.
She made the kitchen save them.
Then served them directly in front of her.
When Emma gagged, relatives laughed awkwardly.
Margaret called her dramatic.
That night Emma left the table.
Caleb followed.
He took her phone.
Tonight had been different.
Margaret had wedged the chair behind Emma so she could not step backward easily.
The water had been deliberately knocked over.
Fish bones were arranged across the plate.
“What was she trying to do?” Daniel asked.
Emma looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
That answer frightened him.
Cruelty made sense in its own ugly way.
The staging did not.
The table looked like evidence prepared before anything happened.
And Daniel had photographed it only because Caleb’s face changed when Emma mentioned the phone.
He called his attorney, Michelle Park, before sunrise.
“Preserve everything.”
“Everything what?”
“My mother’s house.”
“Daniel—”
“Dining room photographs. Security footage. Household communications. Staff schedules. My wife’s phone if we recover it.”
Michelle became serious.
“What happened?”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“My family says it was dinner.”
May you like
His voice hardened.
“I think dinner was the cover.”
