Chapter 4 - The Secret Ledger
Click.
The sound of Evelyn's bedroom lock turning echoed down the hallway like a gunshot.
I didn't chase her. My priority was Anna. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed 911.
"Emergency operator, what is your location?"
"My wife is nine months pregnant, thirty-eight weeks. She's in severe pain, shivering, and may have been subjected to physical distress and toxic herbs. We need an ambulance at 442 Elmwood Lane immediately."
"Help is on the way, sir. Keep her warm and monitor her breathing."
I knelt by the sofa, holding Anna’s shaking hands between mine, rubbing them vigorously to bring back circulation. "Anna, look at me. The paramedics are coming. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you hide this for three months?"
Tears streamed silently down Anna’s temples into her wet hair. "Because every time I tried to mention her comments, you said, 'She's just lonely, she means well.' And then two weeks ago... when you were on that business trip to Chicago... she told me that if I ever tried to separate you from her, she’d make sure you found out about my past."
I froze. "What past? You don't have anything to hide."
"My father's bankruptcy," Anna whispered, her voice cracking with humiliation. "She said she’d tell all your corporate partners that my family married you for bailouts. She said she’d ruin your promotion at the firm. She told me you loved her more than anyone in the world, and that if I made you choose, you would throw me out on the street without a dime."
A volcanic surge of guilt ripped through my chest.
I had been blind. Willfully blind. I had told myself that having Evelyn in the house was an act of filial duty, that two adult women could surely find common ground. I had ignored the subtle jabs, the way Anna shrank whenever Evelyn walked into the room, the unexplained bruises on Anna’s wrists that she claimed came from bumping into furniture.
"I am so sorry, Anna," I wept, kissing her icy knuckles. "I swear to God, you will never see her face again after tonight. I swear it on our baby's life."
A loud bang came from Evelyn’s room.
May you like
The sound of drawers being pulled open, things being shoved violently into bags.
Then came the rustling of papers. I stood up, walked to Evelyn’s bedroom door, and didn't bother knocking. I kicked the lock right off the doorframe with a single, brutal shove.
