Chapter 5: A Home Turned Hostile

I made it home, running on empty. My baby was with her grandmother. The nanny was gone. I wanted a shower and bed, but when I saw the bathtub—her bathtub—I just stopped.

She’d lined it with Target bath bombs she’d never used. Her Bluetooth speaker still had her Motown playlist queued up. On impulse, I filled the tub, poured a glass of cheap red wine—her favorite—and let the music play. It was the closest I’d felt to her since the accident.

I must’ve drifted off. The next thing I knew, someone was pounding on the door.

I thought it was the buyer checking the house, but when I opened up, I got punched in the face. Blood poured from my nose. A thick gold chain swung in my blurry vision.

My father-in-law Steve’s face loomed over me. “You little bastard, you could’ve walked away, but you had to mess with my money? You got a death wish!”

He slapped me hard. My ears rang. His men pinned me down, their cheap aftershave and sweat stinging my nose.

He slapped me again. “Selling the house and car—thought you could get everything? Dream on!”

He kicked me, then leaned in, whispering, “You took the money, didn’t you? That’s my damn money, you hear me? Hand it over, or your family pays the price.”

He threw me to the ground. My chin cracked against the tile. Blood filled my mouth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t hurt my parents—”

He sneered. “That’s not up to me. You get it?”

He turned to his men. “Teach him a lesson. Did he kill for money after being cheated on?”

I looked at Steve, realizing he cared more about the twelve million in Rachel’s account than about her being gone.