A Wife's Ultimate Sacrifice

a, splashing a drink near Diamond Hampton'

ors, brutally beat Jayda, leaving her crumpled on the polished floor. My hu

he dog, and forbade me from calling the police or talking to the press. He even threatened Jayda' s life if I caused a problem for Ms. Hampton. Later, he forced me to play my cello

. That' s a sacrifice. And you' re not sac

re Diamond, in a white coat, watched as a doct

pte

ized show dog cut through the manic

ed, her drink splashing near the d

ion was n

hey didn' t restrain her. They hit her. Hard. Once, then again. Jayda' s head sna

through the stunned, s

blocked her path. It was

said, his voi

his arm, her eyes fixed on Jayda' s still form. The guards

s face an unreadable mask. He was Diamond Hampton' s head o

hat they did?" Her voice wa

cient and cold. "Jayda shouldn' t have startled the

as speaking a foreign language. They reached a

not call the police. You will not talk to the pre

ning to ice in her chest. "A prob

oid of sympathy. "And she will stay that

ing her. This was the man she loved,

years ago. He was a rising star in private security, assigned to Diamo

ick with a guilt that seemed to have no bottom. "The doctors

life. A debt he felt he could never repay. Now, Erica saw that t

the word breaking. "W

s gaze as hard as granite.

the sound of the party a distant, mocking echo. He was going

Jayda was in the ICU, her face a swollen, unrecognizable mess of bruises. Th

her sister' s limp hand. She tried to ca

ir sprawling, empty apartment, h

he asked, not

ve care. Alex, they

himself a drink. "They were following prot

nausea. "Jayda is not an asse

rotect Jayda. The Hampton legal team will bury her. They' ll say she was on drugs, that she attacked them. They will rui

x she knew. The man who held her at night, who laughed at her bad jokes, who ha

, living in a tiny apartment. He had sold his prized vintage watch, the one hi

, Erica," he had whispered, tracing

ace was a stranger, a monste

this, didn' t she?" Erica

d," he said, his voice flat.

e? Haven' t we bee

f something in his eyes-pain, conflict-but it was gone as qu

e stated, as if it were a law of physics. "

tered heart. As Erica walked to their bedroom, she understood. Her marriage wasn' t a partnershi