"Tabitha, come here! Let Mommy hold you!"I crouched at the door with my arms wide open. Although I knew Tabitha wouldn't run over to me like other kids, I couldn't help but hope—what if she did, just this once?Pete stood up as soon as he saw me. He adjusted his clothes and scooped up the dazed Tab
I raised my arm nervously and sniffed my clothes, glancing at Pete. "What's wrong? Do I smell like something?"Pete leaned in to sniff again, forcing me to back up until I was pressed against the window. Feeling embarrassed and annoyed, I snapped, "Pete! Don't get so close to me!"He straightened up
I didn't struggle when Pete was holding me. My mind replayed everything that had happened over the past two years. From the moment Yasmine asked him to come back to get me, he had been taking risks. At the time, he and Annie were going through a rough patch.Deena was studying abroad, living in a t
I always thought that life could be full of coincidences. If I hadn't needed to reach out to Beth, or if she hadn't asked me to find Nicholas, I would never have witnessed such a scene.Beth said she couldn't get into Coral Villa, and no one answered when she knocked. She mentioned that the villa st
Claudia had been watching my every move out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't until I finally left the villa that she slowly sat up from Nicholas's lap.Jealousy almost drove her mad. Her mind screamed that she wanted to kill me, over and over again.If Nicholas hadn't been drunk tonight, she woul
I stepped out of the room the moment I saw Claudia tugging at Nicholas's clothes. Watching any longer would have been inappropriate.It was late, and everything around was quiet. I gently closed the door behind me, not wanting to disturb them. I hadn't noticed when Beth arrived, but as I looked up,
At 4:00 p.m., Wendy and I sat in the car, waiting for Tabitha to finish school.I had taken Tabitha to the daycare for a visit that morning. She was far more composed than I was. When the teacher asked her to stay for observation, she didn't cry or make a fuss.I called the teacher almost every hour
Nicholas's coat flapped as if stirred by an invisible wind. He approached me with fury. He stepped closer, yanked open the car door, and grabbed my wrist. "Are you trying to run me over?"He pulled me out of the car. The next second, he pinched my chin and lifted my face to meet his furious gaze. I