His Betrayal, My Steel-Legged Return

lyn

oment, I thought it was a nightmare. A horrible, vivid dream. I tried to wriggle my toes, a small, secret test I'd

xt. Antiseptic and

alls and humming machines. I was in a private room. Sunlight streame

propped on a pillow. My right leg was completely immobilized, encased in a

ll

city, clearing the fog in an inst

othing was where it was supposed to be. My purse was gone,

y, just outside my partially open d

still be a

ed in my chest, a knot of pure, prim

. It means Mommy will need to rest for a very long time. She was so upset before... talki

cold. What

eelchair?" Hollis as

t's for the best. Now she has to stay here, wit

ded like a p

told me to play hide-and-seek in the park and call for

e sort of pride. "You did exactly what I asked. You helped Momm

as the star of a show

ing way to a simple, chilling preference. "Brenna is more fun. She giv

s paralyzed, but my mind was screaming. The pain in my leg was a distant throb c

A trap. And my own child, my beautiful e

aughter. My scho

the one my grandmother used to tell me. The farmer who finds a frozen snake and takes it home

d them with my love, my money, my life. And they had

by two uniformed police off

s is Officer Chen. We're here to ask y

rushed to my bedside, his face a perfect mask of angui

hought..." He buried his face in the sheets,

es wide and wet with crocodile tears. She l

you, Mrs. Blair," Detective Miller said, his voic

ierce. "Anything you need, Detective. Anything. W

ce. I looked at my daughter, her sweet, treacherous fac

o had just been handed the real script. Everyone else w

his notepad ready. "Mrs. Blair,

's grip tighten on my hand, a silent warning. I met

my voice a raw whisper. "H

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