Chapter 2 - THE LIE IN THE HOSPITAL
Lily needed six stitches.
The doctor said the cut looked worse than it was.
No skull fracture.
No bleeding in the brain.
Claire nearly collapsed from relief.
Daniel sat beside Lily’s hospital bed, holding her tiny hand.
She was pale and sleepy.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here, bug.”
“Why did that boy hit me?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
Claire stood by the window.
She didn’t turn around.
That answer bothered her.
Not because Daniel didn’t know why Ryan had hit Lily.
Because he hadn’t said, I don’t know who that boy is.
Detective Elena Ramirez entered the room forty minutes later.
She was in her forties, calm-eyed, with the tired patience of someone who had spent years listening to people lie.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire nodded.
Ramirez glanced at Lily.
“Is she okay?”
“She will be,” Claire said.
“I’m glad.”
Daniel stood.
“What’s happening with the boy?”
“He’s in juvenile intake with a social worker. We’re trying to contact family.”
Daniel’s shoulders stiffened.
Ramirez noticed.
“So far,” she continued, “Ryan says his mother died twelve days ago.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
“Car accident.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Only for a second.
Again, Claire saw it.
Ramirez saw it too.
“You knew Megan Cole?” the detective asked.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Claire’s heart started pounding.
“Answer her.”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“I knew someone named Megan a long time ago.”
“How long?”
“Eleven years.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Interesting.”
“Claire—”
“We’ve been married nine years.”
“I know.”
“You were dating me eleven years ago.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
That silence said more than any confession.
Claire stepped closer.
“Were you sleeping with her?”
Lily shifted in bed.
Claire immediately lowered her voice.
Daniel glanced at their daughter.
“Can we do this somewhere else?”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No. You don’t get to control where this conversation happens.”
Ramirez stepped in gently.
“We can move into the hall.”
Claire followed her out.
Daniel came after them.
The door shut.
Claire turned immediately.
“Were you having an affair?”
Daniel looked wrecked.
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Then make it simple.”
“We had broken up for a few weeks.”
Claire stared at him.
“What?”
“Before we got engaged. We were fighting all the time. You moved back in with your sister.”
“For seventeen days.”
“I know.”
“And you slept with someone else?”
“Yes.”
The word hit Claire harder than she expected.
She folded her arms tightly across her chest.
“Did she get pregnant?”
Daniel looked away.
Claire stopped breathing.
“Daniel.”
“She told me she might be.”
“Might be?”
“She took a test. It was positive.”
Claire’s face went cold.
“And?”
“She called me a few weeks later and said she’d miscarried.”
Detective Ramirez watched him carefully.
“You believed her?”
“Yes.”
Claire shook her head.
“Did you ever see proof?”
“No.”
“Did you ever follow up?”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“No.”
Before Claire could speak, Ramirez’s phone buzzed.
She checked it.
Her expression changed.
“What?” Daniel asked.
The detective looked at him.
“Ryan had a backpack when officers brought him in.”
“So?”
“There was an envelope inside.”
She paused.
“It has your full name written on it.”
Daniel went still.
Ramirez continued.
“And according to Ryan, his mother told him to give it to you if anything ever happened to her.”
Claire stared at Daniel.
“What’s inside?”
May you like
Ramirez’s face hardened.
“We just found out.”
