What place have we sent our daughter to? This woman is dangerous. She’s manipulating me, gaslighting me, threatening me. And she’s confident she can get away with it.
“I don’t care what you say, I’m taking my daughter out of this goddam place tonight. I’m not a danger to her.”
“That’s not what she said. Whatever you are, you have damaged her.” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “She’s safe now. This place specializes in healing children who have been failed by their families. Unfortunately, many parents don’t realize the harm they cause their own kids until it’s too late.”
Does she really think she can just take my daughter right in front of me and brainwash me into thinking there’s nothing wrong with it? But that’s exactly what’s happening. Standing here, I can already see everything breaking apart, my entire life, my marriage, my career.
If she exposes me, it’s over.
“If you don’t let me take my daughter home, I will sue you.” I threaten her with everything I have the power to make happen—lawsuits and media exposure to destroy this place.
She only laughs in my face.
“Mr. Sutton, we’re a small camp in a small town. You are a big lawyer in a big city with a dangerous secret you and your parents have been keeping for years. Who do you think is going to get more attention?” She chuckles and I feel like slapping her. “Think about it. The world would absolutely love the story of a powerful lawyer with a violent past and an abused child who hates him. This won’t end well for you. Do as I say. Leave quietly and never return.”
“You are out of your mind if you think you can pull this off.” I get into her face this time, so close I smell coffee on her breath. “You do not have the power to do this. I’ll ruin my career before I abandon my child.”
There’s a long pause. Then she doesn’t even flinch when she speaks the next words, her lips curled in a tiny smile. “How about this? If you don’t get out of here and stick to our little plan, your daughterwillactually get hurt. I’m sure you know what I mean by that. Leave and she will be safe. Do this for her, if not for yourself.”
As she turns to leave, she mutters, “You’re not the only one with blood on your hands, Mr. Sutton. You and I are more alike than you think.”
She walks away.
I move in a daze. Ten minutes later, I get into my car, driving through town to clear my head. I don’t even answer Scarlett’s calls.
When I get back to the apartment, two hours have gone by. And Judy is awake, looking for me.
After she goes back to sleep, I answer Scarlett’s call.
Sadie is gone.
THIRTY-NINE
SCARLETT
Present Day
My eyes are closed as I stand on the balcony, my hands gripping the railing. The ocean is hissing below us.
How could he do it? How could a father sacrifice his child like that and live with himself for six months afterwards?
My eyes snap open and I spin around to glare at him. My stomach is churning with so much anger.
I watch as he drinks from his tumbler, for real this time, and picks up the bottle of whiskey from underneath my chair, pouring himself another drink.
How dare he think he can just sit there and drown the truth about what he did in alcohol?
Out of nowhere, something inside me snaps. This is not the man I trusted with my heart, albeit briefly. He’s not the man I betrayed my best friend for. I want to hurt him as much as the truth is hurting me right now.
“How could you leave Sadie there for six whole months, Gabriel?” My eyes heat up with tears that immediately flow over to drench my cheeks. “How could you do this to us all? Tell me. I just, I don’t get it.”
He slurs something I don’t understand, then looks at me with unfocused eyes. “I didn’t…I tried everything. After that night, I went back to the camp many times. They wouldn’t let me in. They told me she wasn’t there anymore, and they’d hired more guards. And that night…I had no choice.” He releases a loud breath and stares into his drink.
When he raises the glass to his lips to take another sip, I’m unable to stop myself and the next thing I know, my hand is slamming toward his, knocking the glass from his loose grip. Alcohol shoots through the air and the glass shatters on the stone tiles.
“Of course you had a choice. Everyone always has a choice. That was a ridiculous deal you agreed to. You failed your daughter. Youdidhave a choice and you chose yourself. You are responsible for this, for everything.” I rake a hand through my hair and look up in an attempt to stop the flow of tears. “How could you let Judy go through all that, thinking that her daughter is dead?”
He cups his head with both hands like he wants to detach it from his body. “I’m sorry, I wish I could go back and do things differently.”
