Chapter 4 - THE SCARS HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO SEE
“Ethan, listen to me.”
I gripped the phone so tightly my fingers hurt.
“Whatever they promised you, I'll get it. Just don't hurt Noah.”
Ethan laughed.
“You couldn't give me what I wanted when we were married. What makes you think you can give it to me now?”
Jack stood beside me, listening.
His expression never changed.
But his eyes had gone cold.
“Let me speak to Noah,” I demanded.
A pause.
Then a tiny voice.
“Mommy?”
My heart broke.
“Baby, I'm here.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes, sweetheart. I'm coming.”
“Daddy said you were bad.”
Tears burned behind my eyes.
“Listen to me, Noah. You're not in trouble. Keep your robot close, okay?”
“Okay.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the screen.
Then my legs gave out.
Jack caught me before I hit the floor.
His arm supported my back.
My damaged shoulder screamed with pain.
I flinched.
Immediately, he loosened his hold.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
But my voice betrayed me.
Jack looked at my shoulder.
“Lily.”
“It's old.”
“What is?”
I pulled away.
“My scars. They're old.”
He didn't answer.
Maybe that silence was what made me speak.
Maybe I was tired of hiding.
“Three years ago, I was in a car accident. Ethan was driving. He'd been drinking, and when we crashed, he left me trapped inside.”
Jack's expression hardened.
“The car caught fire,” I continued. “I got out, but not before it burned my shoulder and part of my stomach.”
My throat tightened.
“Ethan said nobody would ever want to look at me again.”
Jack remained still.
“He used to make jokes whenever I changed clothes. He'd tell me to cover up before I embarrassed him.”
I hated how small my voice sounded.
Then Jack asked quietly, “Who told you he was allowed to define what you deserve?”
I looked at him.
He didn't look away.
Not from my pain.
Not from the shame I'd carried for years.
He simply stood there, as though none of it made me less worthy of being protected.
A sharp knock interrupted us.
Rocco entered carrying a tablet.
“We found the SUV.”
“Where?” I asked.
“An abandoned garage near the river.”
“Is Noah there?”
“We believe so. But there's another problem.”
He turned the screen toward Jack.
A security photograph showed Ethan standing beside Marco Voss.
And between them was a third man.
A man wearing a hospital identification badge.
I recognized him instantly.
Dr. Harold Pierce.
The surgeon who'd treated my burns.
The doctor who had told me the crash was an unfortunate accident.
Rocco enlarged the image.
Jack read the doctor's identification number.
Then his entire expression changed.
“Pierce,” he whispered.
“What?”
Jack looked at me.
“Lily, your accident wasn't an accident.”
May you like
He pointed toward the doctor's photograph.
“That man was supposed to make sure you never survived.”
