Her eyes locked onto mine, hungry for the breakdown. Waiting for the tears. Waiting for me to fall apart and flee the way I always had before.
But I was eerily calm. I refused to give her what she wanted.
My lack of reaction infuriated her.
Frustration radiated off her like heat from a furnace, so intense her smug smile began to crack at the edges. She leaned closer, voice dropping to something more vicious.
"Oh," she murmured, soft and poisonous, like an old friend sharing a secret. "I know what will break you."
She brought her lips to my ear and spoke slowly, savoring every word:
"For instance… that baby you lost six months ago. Did you really think it was an accident?"
Every muscle in my body locked.
My blood turned to ice water.
"What did you just say?"
### Chapter 4
Something snapped inside my head. I lunged forward and seized Alice's arm, gripping so hard my knuckles went white. "What do you mean it wasn't an accident? Explain yourself!"
In that instant, I understood. This woman wasn't insane. She hadn't lost her memory. Every single bit of it was deliberate.
"Please, Cecily, stop! Don't do this to me!"
Alice's voice transformed in a heartbeat. Terrified. Fragile. A trembling little doe cornered by a predator. Then she grabbed my wrist, angling her body as though I were the one shoving her, and threw herself headfirst into the wall.
Before I could even react, Dustin came charging out of nowhere and slammed into me. I hit the floor hard, the impact rattling through every organ in my body.
"Alice, are you okay?" His voice shook. His hands flew over her head, her face, her body, searching frantically for injuries.
"Oh God, she's lost her mind..." Alice curled into his arms, whimpering weakly. The posture, the expression, every micro-movement polished to perfection, as if she'd rehearsed it a thousand times.
"That vile woman attacked me," she sobbed, her voice choked with tears yet every syllable bitten off with surgical precision. "She grabbed my head and slammed it into the wall. She kept screaming that she's your wife. My head hurts so much..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. So innocent. So pitiful.
Dustin turned to look at me. His gaze cut like a blade dragged across bare skin. I opened my mouth, but my throat sealed shut. Not a single word came out.
"I didn't," I finally managed, my voice cracking. "I didn't slam her. She did it to herself. She's lying!"