His tuxedo shirt was still visible beneath his coat.
He looked like a groom returning from an especially ugly party.
“I didn't know Mom would hurt you like that.”
Sophie said nothing.
“I swear.”
“You stood outside.”
“My mother controls everything.”
“You told them not to bruise my face.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Sophie laughed.
One sound.
Disbelieving.
“You were protecting the wedding photographs.”
“No.”
“You knew about Melissa.”
His face changed.
That was the answer.
Sophie took one step backward.
Jake whispered, “I love you.”
My daughter looked at him for a long time.
Then she said, “You don't even know what that word means.”
Police ordered him onto the ground.
He obeyed.
As they handcuffed him, he began crying.
Not for Sophie.
For himself.
Caroline was arrested inside the warehouse.
Alex came out last.
Blood marked his forehead.
Sophie ran to him.
He caught her.
For a moment, they simply held each other.
