Chapter 2

I saw Maisie flash me a quick, taunting smile, before quickly masking it with a look of feigned guilt.

"I'm sorry, Lionel… Toto was barking at the door just now, and I saw you were asleep. I thought I'd take her for a walk myself, but as soon as I opened the door, she pounced on me. I was startled, and with the hallway lights out, my condition flared up and I fainted. When I woke up, Toto was gone. She must've taken my necklace with her. I was going to look for her, but then June showed up…"

Her words grew more pitiful with every sentence, tears falling onto the floor.

Lionel didn't seem to notice the inconsistencies in her story, his focus entirely on her. "You had an episode again? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Maisie shook her head, forcing a weak smile. "No, Lionel. You've taken care of me for so long. I can't keep troubling you…"

I stood up, but a coldness slowly settled over my heart.

"Lionel, do you believe her?"

He didn't answer, but instinctively pulled Maisie closer.

I let out a bitter laugh, realizing how foolish I was to even ask. I should have known better.

Before Maisie came into the picture, Lionel and I had a relatively respectful marriage. But since she entered the scene, it was like we couldn't stand each other anymore.

Maisie's claim that she suffered from claustrophobia only added to the strain.

I met Lionel on a blind date. But my feelings for him had started long before that, during my seven years of quiet longing.

I was lucky, though. After rejecting countless suitors since graduating from college, I eventually found Lionel. By then, I was at the right age and had a pretty good life. It didn't take long for us to marry.

In the beginning, Lionel wasn't particularly affectionate toward me. I did everything I could as a wife, using my love and patience to melt the ice around him. Eventually, he started showing some warmth, even going as far as to invite Hope to live with us so he could personally treat her.

Hope adored him, and I thought he would always care for her in return, loving her as his own.

But everything changed when Maisie came back.

He began abandoning me over and over again, leaving me disappointed time after time, just to spend time with her.

I confronted him, but his response was always the same.

"June, I thought you were more understanding than this. Maisie has claustrophobia. This illness was my fault, and I need to help her get better."

Before, I could fool myself into thinking that Lionel would come back to me, that he would still be the caring brother-in-law to Hope, and the respectful husband to me.

But I was wrong.

The disappointment and hurt I'd silently carried had allowed Lionel to act with no regard for me. Eventually, Hope's well-being didn't even matter to him.

When I saw the blood in the bathroom, I realized that my love for Lionel—the love that had lasted ten years—had been washed away in that moment.

I heard his voice near my ear. "Alright, Maisie didn't do it on purpose. Besides, Toto was just a dog. You slapped Maisie—shouldn't that be enough for you to calm down?"

Calm down? How could I calm down?

Toto was the stray dog Hope had brought home. Together, we saved her from the streets, and for three years, she was a part of our family.

Whenever Hope's condition flared up and she thought about harming herself, Toto would always bark and leap into her arms, calming her down.

My family was gone, and Lionel thought a slap was all it would take for me to let this go.

I felt completely drained, like all the life had been sucked out of me. In a numb tone, I said, "Lionel, let's get a divorce. But Maisie… I'll make sure she pays for what she's done."

I would find the evidence. I would prove that Maisie was the one who had killed Toto.