“I know what Zero told you,” she continued. “And I know how it must have sounded.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say.
Sam took a deep breath. “Derek and I were married when I was eighteen. He was twenty-six. We wanted a family, but I couldn’t get pregnant. When I asked him to get tested, he changed. He became angry, started yelling, throwing things. I convinced myself it was stress, and I was desperate to fix things.”
She paused, her jaw tight.
“There was a man in town who looked like Derek, same hair, same chin. His name was Jack. When I was ovulating, I deliberately sought him out for a one-night stand, thinking a baby would save our marriage.”
My eyes snapped to hers.
“Derek knew immediately I’d lied because he’d had a vasectomy years before; he never wanted children. He was terrified of becoming his father, but he never shared that with me.” Sam’s voice shook. “He lost it. He beat me so badly I ended up in the hospital.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“A friend from work named Carrie helped me escape. After Charlie was born, notes started appearing from Derek, saying he wanted us back, that we should give Charlie up for adoption, start over. Carrie convinced me Derek was stalking us, so we ran. For years, we moved every few weeks, every few months.”
Sam’s hands clenched. “We finally settled in Diamond Creek. Then one day, Jack walked into the diner where I worked. He was relentless in his pursuit, but I pushed him away. Until I ran into him at Walmart, and Charlie was with me. Jack and I got close, and then another note arrived.”
“How did Derek find you?” I whispered.
“He didn’t. Derek had no idea where we were until I sent him divorce papers.” Sam’s eyes filled with tears. “The notes weren’t from Derek. They were from Carrie. She’d been with Derek before we met, and they’d had a child together who she lost.”
My stomach dropped.
“Derek came to town to confront me about the petition to have Charlie’s birth certificate changed. He knew I was with the man I’d cheated on him with; he didn’t know it was the brother he’d never known until he saw Jack at the clubhouse. He signed the divorce papers and signed away his rights to Charlie, but he didn’t leave, and we didn’t know why.
“Carrie had disappeared when I confronted her about the notes, then she kidnapped Charlie. She went to the motel to find Derek; she wanted Charlie to replace the child they lost. But Carrie had a gun. They fought over it, and it went off. Carrie died.”
Sam reached for my hand. “Derek saved my daughter. When we got there, he was holding Charlie, protecting her, tears running down his face. But I realized then he was a broken boy who’d never learned how to love.”
She squeezed my hand. “He started therapy with Haizley. He’s been doing the work—real, hard work, to understand his trauma and change. He’s not the man who hurt me. He’s a man who will do anything to protect the people he loves, even if it costs him everything.”
Sam’s voice steadied. “I forgave him because I realized he genuinely wanted to change. He deserves to be judged for who he is now, not who he was then.”
I looked at her, tears streaming down my face.
“What Zero did was wrong, and Derek should have told you. But he’s a good man, Kat,” Sam said. “I promise you that. And if you give him a chance, I think you’ll see it too.”
I nodded slowly, unable to find words.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Derek
The concrete was cold beneath me. I’d stopped feeling it days ago, stopped feeling much of anything except the dull throb in my ribs and the sharper sting across my knuckles where the skin had split open.
Time had become meaningless in this cell. Days blurred into one another, marked only by the fluorescent light that never dimmed and the silence that pressed down like a physical weight.
Jack had come down on the first day with a tray of food. He’d set it on the floor without a word, but his jaw was tight, his eyes disappointed. Sam had followed him the next morning, her expression a mixture of concern and frustration. She’d left another tray, sandwiches, fruit, water, and stood in the doorway for a long moment before speaking.
“You need to eat,” she’d said quietly. “You need to talk to Haizley.”
I hadn’t responded. Hadn’t even looked at her.
By the third day, they’d stopped trying to convince me with words. Jack just left the food and walked away. Sam came less frequently, but when she did, I could see the worry etched into her face. They were wasting their time. Both of them. I wasn’t worth saving.
Blood had dried on my hands. Zero’s blood, mostly. Some of it mine.
