CHAPTER 2 — THE MOTHER-IN-LAW’S SMILE
Naomi arrived slowly, as if she had time.
She stepped into the hallway, still holding her Bible.
And when she saw Violet in my arms… she didn’t react like a grandmother.
She reacted like a judge seeing evidence that had returned from the dead.
“That child,” she said softly, “was not meant to survive.”
A nurse gasped behind the counter.
I stepped forward.
“You threw her away.”
Naomi didn’t deny it.
She tilted her head instead, calm as stone.
“Sometimes God corrects mistakes through removal.”
My hands shook so violently Violet almost slipped.
Garrett finally moved.
But not toward me.
Toward his mother.
“Mom,” he whispered, warning in his voice.
But it wasn’t warning for me.
It was warning for her reputation.
And in that moment, I understood something worse than betrayal.
May you like
He wasn’t surprised.
He was afraid I would finally say it out loud.
