My mouth went dry.
“He said one phone call could destroy your job.”
“Oh my God.”
“And then he said the house was in his name.” Baby& Pet Names
I stared at her.
“He said you’d lose everything.”
Sophie’s voice began shaking.
“He said you’d end up sleeping in your car.”
Then:
“And he’d make sure I understood it was my fault.”
I couldn’t breathe.
ADRIAN PAID MY DAUGHTER TO DISAPPEAR
Sophie looked down.
“He gave me eight hundred dollars.”
My chest tightened.
“And told me to leave before you came home.”
I stared.
“You left…”
My voice broke. Anatomy
“To protect me?”
She nodded.
“Because I believed him.”
Then Sophie pressed Play.
Adrian’s voice filled the living room.
Calm.
Controlled.
Exactly the way he sounded when he wanted people to believe he was reasonable.
He threatened my eighteen-year-old daughter.
My career.
My housing.
