Chapter 2: The Key
I saw red.
“What the hell are you doing to my children?”
Vanessa spun toward me, but I didn’t stop.
I grabbed her shoulder, yanked her away from my daughters, and slapped her across the face with everything I had.
Something small flew from her cardigan pocket and skidded across the floor.
A silver key.
Vanessa froze the second she saw it.
I dropped to my knees and pulled both girls into my arms.
Hena was shaking so badly she could not stop sobbing.
Lily buried her face against my chest.
“Dad,” she whispered, “she said you weren’t coming home yet.”
I looked at Hena’s scalp and saw strands of hair still clinging to Vanessa’s fingers.
Then I looked at Lily’s cheek.
It was already swelling.
Vanessa pressed a hand to her face and screamed, “They attacked me first!”
“No,” Lily shouted. “You locked Hena in there again!”
My blood turned cold.
“Locked her where?”
Vanessa lunged toward the silver key, but I picked it up first.
Her face went white.
May you like
Hena looked at the key and started crying even harder.
“Daddy, please don’t make me go back.”
