CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST POISONED SEED
Daniel knew the accusation was meant to wound him.
Still, it followed him home.
That was Patricia’s gift.
She could plant doubt in a single sentence and make someone else spend years watering it.
Olivia noticed his silence.
“You can ask me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“But you’re thinking about it.”
Daniel sat across from her in the hotel room.
“I know Patricia lies.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He hated himself for the question.
“Is there any possibility Sophie isn’t mine?”
Olivia’s face changed.
Not into guilt.
Into heartbreak.
“No.”
Daniel immediately wished he could take the words back.
“I’m sorry.”
“You believed her for one second.”
“I didn’t believe her.”
“You considered it.”
“She said it in front of police. She sounded certain.”
“She always sounds certain.”
Olivia turned away.
Daniel realized Patricia had managed to enter their marriage even while handcuffed.
He knelt beside Olivia.
“I will not ask for a test.”
“Maybe you should.”
“No.”
“If doubt is going to live between us—”
“It won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
Daniel looked at Sophie sleeping nearby.
Then he understood what he needed to do.
“This isn’t about biology.”
Olivia looked back at him.
“She is my daughter because I am her father. I was there when she took her first breath. I held her through that night in the hospital. I will love her for the rest of my life. Patricia doesn’t get to change that with one sentence.”
Olivia’s eyes filled.
“There is no one else,” she said.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
This time, he meant it.
Later, investigators discovered how Patricia had created the accusation.
Months earlier, she had found a photograph of Olivia embracing a male friend outside a café.
The man was Olivia’s cousin, Mark.
Patricia had kept the photograph and written a date on the back that suggested the meeting occurred near Sophie’s conception.
The actual photograph was three years old.
Another lie assembled from a piece of truth.
Patricia was charged with violating the protective order, attempted custodial interference, stalking and financial fraud.
The medication investigation remained part of the case.
Her attorney requested a psychiatric evaluation.
Patricia refused.
She insisted she was the only sane person in the family.
While she remained in custody, Daniel and Olivia returned home.
The curtains were replaced.
New cameras were installed.
Daniel removed the guest-room furniture Patricia had chosen and painted the walls with Olivia.
They turned the room into a quiet reading space.
One evening, as they assembled a bookshelf, Olivia found an envelope taped beneath a drawer.
Patricia’s handwriting covered the front.
FOR DANIEL — AFTER OLIVIA LEAVES YOU.
Inside was a letter dated six months earlier.
May you like
The first sentence read:
By the time you understand what kind of woman you married, she will already have taken your child and your home.
