Margaret: Oh[cite: 1]!
The slap knocked Margaret sideways into the glass shower door, her designer coat flapping open as she clutched her burning cheek[cite: 1].
A bright crimson welt flared across her cheekbone, her eyes wide with hysterical terror[cite: 1].
Margaret: You hit me! You struck an elderly woman in your own home[cite: 1]!
Liam: You threw an infant into a toilet bowl, Margaret[cite: 1]!
Margaret: It was an accident! He slipped out of my towel while I was bathing him[cite: 1]!
Liam: You don't bathe a baby in a toilet, you sick psychopath[cite: 1]!
Owen shrieked against Liam's shoulder, his tiny fingers digging into the damp fabric of his father's grey shirt[cite: 1].
Liam grabbed a thick Egyptian cotton towel from the heated rack, wrapping the shivering baby from head to toe[cite: 1].
Liam: Breathe, Owen. Daddy has you. Daddy's got you, buddy[cite: 1].
Margaret: Give me back my phone, Liam! That is private personal property[cite: 1]!
Liam: Who sent these messages, Margaret? Who sent them thirty seconds ago[cite: 1]?
Margaret: It's my real estate agent! We were discussing the sale of my condo in Austin[cite: 1]!
Liam: 'I got him alone. The next part starts tonight.' What real estate agent writes that[cite: 1]?!
Margaret: It was about the closing agent! He was waiting alone at the title office[cite: 1]!
Liam: And what about 'Did you do it?' What were you supposed to do to my son[cite: 1]?!
Margaret smoothed down her disheveled silver hair, backing into the master bedroom hallway[cite: 1].
Margaret: You're reading things into an innocent text because you've been paranoid for months, Liam[cite: 1]!
Liam: I left for Chicago this morning on a corporate flight! Who told you I canceled my trip[cite: 1]?
Margaret: Nobody told me! I thought you were in the air right now[cite: 1]!
Liam: My flight was delayed on the tarmac because of a hydraulic leak[cite: 1]!
Margaret: Well, you should have called before barging into the house like a criminal[cite: 1]!
Liam: A criminal? In my own mansion? The mansion my late father built[cite: 1]?
Margaret: Your father married me, Liam! Under state law, this estate belongs to me as much as it belongs to you[cite: 1]!
Liam: My father signed a prenuptial agreement that left this property entirely to my biological line[cite: 1]!
Margaret: That prenuptial agreement is being contested in the county probate court as we speak[cite: 1]!
Liam felt the blood drain from his face as a horrifying suspicion locked into his mind[cite: 1].
He held the phone up to his face, tapping the unsaved contact number and pressing the green call button[cite: 1].
Margaret: Don't call that number! Hang up that phone right now[cite: 1]!
Liam put the call on speaker, his jaw tight as the dial tone rang through the quiet bedroom[cite: 1].
Downstairs, coming from the open grand foyer, a familiar smartphone chime echoed up the curved staircase[cite: 1].
The ringtone played three cheerful bars of a pop song before cutting off abruptly with a click[cite: 1].
A soft, feminine voice answered the line, breathing heavily through the speaker[cite: 1].
Voice on Phone: Mom? Is it done? Did you drown the baby[cite: 1]?
Liam stopped breathing, his knuckles turning pure white around the phone casing[cite: 1].
The voice on the other end didn't belong to a stranger or an anonymous hitman[cite: 1].
It belonged to Chloe, his own wife of two years[cite: 1].
Voice on Phone: Mom, answer me! Chloe's waiting by the front doors with the life insurance forms[cite: 1]!
Liam slowly lowered the phone, his eyes burning with an icy, lethal darkness as he glared at Margaret[cite: 1].
Liam: My wife... My own wife helped you plan this[cite: 1].
Margaret didn't deny it; she let out a dry, bitter laugh and stepped toward the grand stairs[cite: 1].
Margaret: You were always a fool, Liam. Just like your father before you[cite: 1].