Beyond Her Cruelest Lie

soundtrack to the worst night of my life. I sat on a hard plastic chair outside the pediatric ward, my clothes

fall. I heard the crunch. I saw Sophia' s smile just moments before

ling faces, the clinking glasses. I tapped the screen, my thumb hovering over

o raw, so brutal,

zed. A text

rk for a few days. His dad

h bubble up in my chest, a hysterical, broken sound. His dad is worse. She was on a romanti

single, tremb

ia is

came almos

rama. I told you I' m dealing with something

e didn' t believe me. She thought this was a game, a pathetic attempt to pull h

ough. A voice note. I pre

s. Just handle the kids. I' ll send you some money. Buy them something nice." Then, her voice became muffled

the sterile floor. The sound echoed in the empty hallway. Ne

tha

wn. He was a powerful man, the patriarch of the Hayes family, always impeccably dres

aid, his voice heavy. "They said a child... they s

le to speak past th

frame seeming to shrink. He buried his face

ys treated me more like a son than a son-in-law. He' d admired my devotion to the ch

ally asked, his voice ro

screen still lit up with her message. I d

isbelief, and then to a deep, terrible fury. The color drained from his face, replaced

the words laced with venom.

sorry, Ethan. I' m sorry I ever let you marry her. I thought you would be

e on a gaping wound. But in his eyes, I saw an ally. I

decision. It wasn't about grief anymore. It

words coming out clear and steady.

expression grim. "Whatever

er face somber. "Mr. Davis? We' ve

unsteady. "Is he

.. it' s significant. He' s not speaking, Mr. Davis. At all. We believ

y, cheerful boy who adored his sister was gone, replaced by a silent, traumatized