Chapter 8
I screamed.
Lily started crying.
I grabbed her, pulling her back, away from the two men rolling in the dirt. Daniel was on top of Ethan, hitting him over and over, screaming every curse word he knew.
“Stay away from my daughter! You touch her again and I’ll kill you! You hear me? I’ll kill you!”
Ethan didn’t fight back. He just covered his face with his arms, taking the hits.
“Daniel, stop!” I ran over, grabbing his arm, pulling as hard as I could. “He didn’t do anything! Stop! You’re gonna kill him!”
Daniel shook me off, raising his fist again.
Neighbors had come out of their trailers. Someone was yelling they’d called the police.
Then Ethan grabbed Daniel’s wrist, hard, stopping the punch mid-air. He didn’t hit back. Just held him, his voice calm, firm.
“Stop, man. Please. You’re scaring your daughter.”
Daniel froze.
He looked over at Lily. She was standing by the car, sobbing, her hands over her mouth.
His fist slowly fell.
He stood up, breathing hard, his knuckles bleeding. He looked at me, his eyes full of hate and fear.
“I drove six hours. Six hours. Diane called me, screaming, said you’d kidnapped Lily, said you were bringing her straight to this monster to give her away. I thought I’d never see her again.”
“I didn’t kidnap her.” My voice shook. “I brought her here to find the truth. To prove Diane is lying. Daniel, Ethan didn’t take her from school. He didn’t break into the house. It was Diane. All of it. She set everything up.”
Daniel stared at me like I was crazy.
“You’re defending him now? After everything he’s done?”
“He’s done nothing but be kind to her!” I gestured to Lily, who was still crying. “Look at her! She’s not scared of him! She likes him! He’s been nothing but honest with me since I got here. Diane told you she found the photo? She didn’t just find it. She contacted Ethan six months ago. She sent him our address. She told him where Lily went to school. She forged the note. She opened Lily’s window. She left the rose. All to make Ethan look bad. All to make me look crazy. All to break us up.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s not true. My mom would never—”
“Ask him.” I pointed at Ethan, who was sitting up, wiping blood from his split lip. “Ask him who contacted him first. Who told him where we lived.”
Ethan stood up slowly, wincing. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolled through his texts, and handed it to Daniel.
“Read them. The first text I ever got about Sarah and Lily was from a number I didn’t know. Six months ago. It had their address, Lily’s school, her birthday, everything. The number texted me again last week. Told me Sarah was bringing Lily to Michigan to see me. Told me if I wanted to meet my daughter, I should be home. I thought it was Sarah’s friend. Someone helping her.”
Daniel took the phone.
He read the texts.
His face went whiter and whiter.
The number was Diane’s.
I’d know it anywhere.
Daniel dropped the phone like it was on fire.
He stumbled back a step.
“No.” His voice broke. “She wouldn’t. She’s my mom.”
“Your mom hates me, Daniel.” I walked toward him, slow, so I wouldn’t scare him. “She’s hated me since the day we met. She told me herself. She said I stole you from her. She said she’d do whatever it took to get you back. Even if it meant hurting Lily. Even if it meant letting a man she thought was violent get close to our daughter. She didn’t care about Lily. She didn’t care about you. She only cares about herself.”
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Two police cars pulled up, lights flashing. Officers jumped out, hands on their guns.
“Break it up! Everyone on the ground!”
We spent the next two hours at the local police station. Daniel told the officers what had happened. Ethan didn’t press charges. He told them it was a misunderstanding, that Daniel was just scared for his daughter.
The officers let Daniel go with a warning.
When we walked out of the station, the sun was setting. It was cold. Lily was asleep in the backseat of my car, exhausted.
Daniel stood by the hood of his SUV, his head in his hands.
I walked over to him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice muffled. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I believed her. I believed her over you. Over everything we’ve built. I’m the worst husband in the world.”
I put my hand on his arm.
“You were scared. She manipulated you. She manipulated all of us.”
He looked up at me, his eyes wet.
“I love you. I love you more than anything. And Lily? She’s my daughter. Nothing will ever change that. Not Ethan. Not my mom. Nothing. I’m so sorry I doubted you.”
He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. I cried into his shirt, all the fear and pain and anger of the last two weeks pouring out of me.
“I love you too,” I whispered. “So much.”
We stood there for a long time, holding each other in the cold dark.
Ethan leaned against his truck, watching us, giving us space. When we pulled apart, he walked over.
“I’m not gonna press charges,” he said to Daniel. “I get it. If I thought someone was taking my kid, I’d have done the same thing.”
Daniel nodded, his jaw tight. “Thank you. And I’m sorry. For hitting you. For the things I said.”
“Water under the bridge.” Ethan paused, looking at the car where Lily was sleeping. “Look. I know this is weird. I know you hate me. And I don’t blame you. But I meant what I said to Sarah. I don’t want to take Lily from either of you. I just want to be part of her life. Supervised visits at first. Whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your trust. Both of you.”
Daniel looked at me.
I nodded, slow.
“Okay,” Daniel said. “We can talk about it. When we get home. When we deal with my mom.”
Ethan smiled, small. “Fair enough.”
We drove back to Chicago together, Daniel following me in his SUV.
Lily slept the whole way.
I held Daniel’s hand over the center console the entire drive, like if I let go, he’d disappear again.
We didn’t talk much.
We didn’t need to.
We were a team again.
And when we got home?
May you like
We were going to end this.
Once and for all.
