Page 63 of I Would Die for You

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CALIFORNIA, 2011

The onslaught on social media is brutal. Faceless keyboard warriors are questioning my motivation for setting up the foundation, while others are posting quotes from my speech at the convention center last night, calling for an investigation into my business practices and eligibility for a government grant.

“Onlyshewould have something to gain from doing this,” posts an anonymous-sounding account. While another responds with an audio clip of me saying “I have nothing to hide.”

The injustice of it all rips through me, but even more terrifying is the thought that whoever did this isn’t quite finished yet.

The front door slams and I close my eyes, wishing I could press the rewind button, back to a week or so ago, when my husband and I were the same people we’ve been for the past twenty years.

“I heard what happened at La Jolla,” says Brad, coming into the kitchen. “Are you OK?”

I nod stoically, but all I really want to do is fall into his arms and have him tell me that everything is going to be all right.

“Do you think…” He lets out a heavy sigh. “Do you think it’s got something to do with everything else that’s been going on?”

“I don’t think we can rule it out,” I say honestly.

“So, it might have something to do with your sister?” he asks, drawing quote marks around a word that up until last night he thought didn’t apply to me.

“It would be too much of a coincidence for it not to be.”

“Do you think she’s the woman on the CCTV at Hannah’s school; the woman I met in the bar?”

“And the woman at the conference last night…” I say, adding to the list.

He looks at me and my chest heaves, buckling under the weight of the monumental burden I’ve unwittingly brought to our door. “It’s impossible to tell. I haven’t seen Cassie in over twenty-five years—she was only seventeen when I left, and I wouldn’t know what she looks like as a forty-two-year-old.”

“But what reason would she have to come for you now?” asks Brad. “After all this time, and with such… such vengeance.”

“It got really messy,” I start, without knowing where I’m going. “There was a lot of finger-pointing, lots of unanswered questions. She felt I was to blame, in part, for what happened…” I swallow the pull at the back of my throat as a picture of Ben flashes in front of my eyes.

“Andwereyou?” he asks, his eyes narrowing, as if afraid of the answer.

“No,” I say with conviction, but the lie burns a hole in my tongue.

“So, if thisisyour sister, you have no idea what she wants, or how far she’s prepared to go to get it…”

A shiver runs through me. “I assume she’ll let me know all in good time,” I say dourly.

He manically runs a hand through his beard, his eyes darting from side to side as his ravaged brain slips into fight-or-flight mode. “Well, then, I think under the circumstances, Hannah should be our priority.”

“She always is.”

He nods thoughtfully. “So, I’m going to take her to my parents’ place, until we know exactly what’s going on.”

A guttural sob escapes from deep within my chest. “We’re supposed to be a family,” I choke. “I need you here with me.”

His jaw tenses and I can’t see any part of the man who vowed on our wedding day never to do anything to jeopardize my need to feel safe in a world that I could only remember being anything but. It took me a long time to believe him, but any misgivings were immediately eradicated when Hannah came along. Because seeing Brad step up and be the dad that our little girl deserved lit up my world in a way I never thought possible. And together, we’d carved out the perfect family life, becoming a symbol of respect within our community. I’d lulled myself into believing that nothing could ever upend our standing, but I hadn’t reckoned on someone coming in with a wrecking ball, set on destroying everything we’d created. It turns out karma’s a bitch.

“I think Hannah needs me more,” he says bluntly.

“She needs hermother,” I counter.

“But her mother can’t keep her safe,” he says, cruelly.

“This isn’t my fault,” I cry, feeling as if my heart is being ripped out of my chest.

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