When Love Dies, Revenge Begins

perfect blue. He was four. A hit-and-run. The car wa

ct Attorney David Blair, had his arm around me, a pillar of strength for the cameras that flas

n inside my chest. I wanted to scream, to fall in

she a

ts, walked toward us. Her father, the real estate mogul Dick Underwood, followed a few

lked right up to the grave, peering in

. My hand, holding a single whi

eyes, cold and vacant, meeting min

to her designer handbag and pulled out a small, plush dinosaur-Leo' s favorite, th

it over th

he said conversationally. "Righ

she le

ding softly on the polished

ief filled with a hot, roaring rage. My whole body trem

I took a step forward,

killed

d me, Eva. It was a tragic accident. You sh

, how to find the truth and expose it to the light. I would use the law,

t row, my best friend and colleague, Cheri Reid, beside me. C

meone whispered behind me. "David' s main ba

d convertible speeding away. I had spent weeks piecing it together, doing the work the police seemed

d won a Pulitzer. I had brought down powerful men befo

she

dismissed the evidence. The witness recanted his test

rm steady me. It wasn' t over. I

ailiff cal

, you are un

able, a new file appeared. My husband, Dav

g to the death of your son, Leo Blai

me. He used my grief, my frantic calls and sleepless nights after the accident, as evidence of an unstable mind. He twisted my j

he testified that I had been overworked, stressed, not myself

ttered by the wife' s carelessness. It was a better st

d feigned sorrow. He spoke of a justice system that must r

irst time. His eyes were filled

found m

e ye

mum-security prison. For being a g

that never left. I lost a pregnancy in a brutal fight I didn' t start, another secret I locked away. All I

ent gray. I didn' t go to a halfway house. I took a

absence. But it was pristine. Fresh flowers,

familiar car pulle

ed older, more powerfu

sn' t

is arm. And from the back seat, a nanny helped a small child, a boy, mayb

d the grave, a pe

ead and hugged

we go get ice

. "In a minute, sweetie. We h

e world dissolved into

ot

dd

large oak tree, my hand clamped

et of flowers on the grave, his hand briefly brushing Karyn

lt on the as

ical blow. It wasn' t just about his career. H

d me. He had r

wled through it. My body shook violently, and I bit my

This whole time, h

g, in front of the house we had bought together. The house we were suppos

red the scars on his back from his father' s belt, a past so brutal he rarely spoke of it. I was the one who held him during his night

raw cut on his cheek from where his father h

his voice thick with emotion. "Anyone who tries, I'

s history. I became a star journalist. We married, ha

in Leo' s nursery, holding

me, "is because of you. Meeting you was

f it.

ct husband. My beautiful

ry, I heard Karyn' s v

heard your ex got ou

ng right at m

oing okay? Are you worr

nswer. The last, fragile thread of hope I didn' t

y direction. He adjusted his t

ld I be? She' s no

my palms, breaking the skin. Blood d

of a happy family, and drove away, leaving

en, I pulled out my burner phone, the one I' d kept hidd

er

hesitant whe

Ev

lp, Cheri." My

, I' m so sorry. I' ll do anything. Anything. I' l

able to shed finally

d with Cheri felt alien. So I went to the onl

use. O

self in. The air was stale, but everything was just as I had

The family photo on th

rd creaked

un a

houette blocking the fading light.

three years of pain and betrayal. He looked at me, his

ward, his voice so

' re

le of water. "You

' t ta

y special ingredients," I sai

to the kitchen and came back with a mug of

You' r

liar ceramic, desperate for the warmth. The mug, a gift

en it

d floor, the hot tea splash

up at him, my body shaking with a ra

y voice trembling but clear. "Tell