Chapter 8

I stepped between them.

"Get out," I said, my voice shaking with rage. "Get out of my house and stay away from my daughter."

Margaret looked at me, her eyes cold.

"This isn't over, Audrey. You have something that belongs to me. And I will get it. One way or another."

She turned and walked out of the office, Lena following close behind.

I heard the front door open and close.

The house was quiet again.

I sank down onto the floor, my legs giving out.

Poppy came over and sat beside me, putting her small hand on my arm.

"Mommy? Are you okay?"

I looked at her. My beautiful, innocent daughter.

Margaret had killed Grant. The letter said so. And now she was coming after us.

I pulled Poppy into my arms, holding her tight.

"I'm okay, baby. Mommy's okay."

But I wasn't okay.

Far from it.

I stood up and walked to the office door, locking it. Then I went to the front door and locked that too. And the back door. And every window in the house.

I was safe for now. The doors were locked. Margaret was gone.

But I knew she would be back.

The letter. The evidence. The new will.

I had to figure out what to do.

I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. My hands were shaking so badly I spilled half of it.

Lena.

She knew I had found something. She had seen my face. She knew I was lying.

Would she tell Margaret?

I thought about the way she looked at me. The fear in her eyes. The way she had lied to Margaret for me.

Maybe she wasn't as loyal to Margaret as I thought.

I pulled the letter from my pocket and read it again.

Grant was dead. Murdered. By his own mother.

And I had the evidence to prove it.

But what could I do? Go to the police? They would need more than a letter from a dead man. They would need proof. The files in the metal box.

And if I went to the police, Margaret would know. She would come after me. After Poppy.

I looked at the clock. It was almost five o'clock. Poppy would be hungry soon.

I took a deep breath and walked to her room. She was sitting on her bed, coloring.

"Hey, baby," I said. "Want to order pizza for dinner?"

She looked up and smiled.

"Pepperoni?"

"Pepperoni," I said, forcing a smile.

I walked back to the kitchen and picked up my phone to call the pizza place.

And then I saw it.

An email. From an unknown sender.

I opened it.

May you like

He came home **11 minutes early**.

My mother-in-law slapped me across the face in front of my husband’s ent...

I came home early and found my mother-in-law standing over my nine-year-...

One line.

I know what you found in the box. Meet me tonight. Alone. Or I tell Margaret everything.