CHAPTER 2 — The First Lie Breaks
The ambulance doors slammed shut, but I still felt Lily’s weight in my arms.
Her fingers twitched once before slipping into stillness again.
Marcus sat beside her on the stretcher, his hand never leaving her small wrist, as if letting go would erase her from existence. I stood frozen in the doorway of the ambulance until an EMT gently pulled me back.
“Ma’am, we need space.”
Space.
As if space was something I could afford.
Behind us, the house was still alive.
Balloons moved gently in the morning breeze. The birthday banner for Emma fluttered like nothing had happened. Vanessa stood on the porch, sipping her coffee again—this time slower, watching the chaos like she was observing weather.
My mother finally stopped chopping vegetables.
Not because she cared.
Because the sirens had made the situation inconvenient.
When the police asked questions, the answers came too smooth.
“I didn’t see anything,” my mother said.
“She must have wandered off,” Vanessa added.
My father stood behind them, arms crossed.
And then Marcus said the sentence that changed everything.
May you like
“There’s surveillance cameras facing the back storage building.”
For the first time, Vanessa stopped smiling.
