Chapter 2
Time stopped.
Victoria stared at me. I stared at her.
The riding crop lay between us on the floor.
My children were still pressed against the wall. Leo hadn't moved. He was still shielding Emma. Little Aiden—four years old, my baby—had his face buried in his hands.
No one breathed.
Then Victoria moved.
She stepped away from the children. Toward me. Her hands were already moving to smooth her hair. Adjust her silk robe.
"Nathan," she said. Her voice was already shifting into that warm, soothing tone she used with strangers. "You're home early. I didn't hear you come in."
I didn't answer.
I walked past her. Straight to my children.
I dropped to my knees on the cold concrete.
Leo flinched.
Actually flinched.
When his own father reached for him.
Something inside me shattered right then. Something I didn't know could break.
"It's okay," I whispered. My voice cracked. "Daddy's here. You're safe now."
I opened my arms.
For three long seconds, they didn't move. They looked at each other. Scared. Confused. Like they were waiting for a trick.
Then Leo launched himself at me.
Emma followed. Aiden came last, clinging to my shirt like he was drowning.
I held them. All three at once. They were shaking so hard my own body shook with them. I could feel every rib. Every bone.
When was the last time they had eaten properly?
"You have no right," Victoria said behind me.
I turned my head slowly. Still holding my children.
"No right?" My voice was barely a whisper. But it was the deadliest whisper I had ever spoken. "To my own children?"
"They were misbehaving," she said. She was actually starting to look annoyed. Like I had interrupted something trivial. "They broke a vase this afternoon. An antique. Worth more than most people's houses."
"So you lock them in the basement?" I stood up. Lifted Aiden with one arm. Kept my other hand clamped around Leo and Emma. "At one o'clock in the morning? With a riding crop?"
"I was correcting them." Victoria stepped closer. Her eyes flashed. "You're never here, Nathan. You have no idea what it takes. Three children. This house. The foundation. All of it on me. Sometimes they need discipline. Real discipline. Not the weak garbage you read about in parenting books."
I stared at her.
The woman I had loved for fifteen years. The woman I had built my life around.
I didn't know her.
Not even a little bit.
"How long?" I asked.
Victoria blinked. "What?"
"How long have you been doing this?"
She laughed. An ugly, sharp sound. "Don't be dramatic. I'm their mother. I know what's best for them. You fly around the world making money. You don't see what I see. They're spoiled. Entitled. They need to learn respect."
"Respect?" I looked down at Leo. His left cheek had a faint red mark on it. A handprint. I felt my throat close. "Is that what you call this?"
Victoria followed my gaze. For half a second, something flickered in her eyes. Remorse? Fear? I couldn't tell. It was gone too fast.
"You don't understand," she said again. Softer now. Manipulative. She reached for my arm. "Nathan, look at me. I'm stressed. I've been overwhelmed. This was a mistake. One terrible mistake. I'm sorry. I'll never do it again. We can get past this. We're a family."
I pulled my arm away like she had burned me.
"Don't touch me."
Her face hardened. The mask came back. Colder than before.
"You're making a mistake," she said. "If you take this any further, I will destroy you. You think the board of directors wants a messy divorce in the papers? You think your investors will stay while your wife accuses you of kidnapping your own children? I have friends, Nathan. Powerful friends. I can make sure you never see these kids again."
She leaned in. Her voice dropped to a hiss.
"Try me."
I looked at her. Really looked at her.
The woman I had married was gone. Had been gone for a long time, probably. There was only a stranger left. A dangerous, cruel stranger who had been living in my house. Hurting my babies.
I shifted Aiden higher on my hip. Squeezed Leo's shoulder.
"Try to stop me," I said.
I walked up the basement stairs. Carried my children out of the dark.
Victoria didn't follow.
May you like
But I knew.
This was only the beginning.
