CHAPTER 3 — Secrets Behind the Perfect Bride
By midnight, the police had photographed every injury on Emma's body.
Child Protective Services interviewed her with a pediatric psychologist present.
She spoke only three sentences.
"They happen when Daddy is gone."
"She says nobody will believe me."
"I tried to be good."
Each sentence broke me more than the last.
Meanwhile, detectives searched Sabrina's belongings.
Hidden inside one of her designer luggage cases was a leather journal.
It wasn't a diary.
It was a plan.
Every page detailed how she intended to isolate me from Emma after the wedding.
Page after page listed steps:
• Send Emma to boarding school.
• Convince Daniel she's emotionally unstable.
• Gain control of family finances.
• Sell the Manhattan penthouse.
• Have children of my own.
• Rewrite the inheritance.
The final page froze everyone in the room.
"If the child refuses to disappear quietly..."
The sentence ended there.
It didn't need finishing.
Detective Harper slowly closed the journal.
"This wasn't anger."
"This was preparation."
As officers placed Sabrina under arrest, she screamed across the lobby.
"You chose her over me!"
I answered calmly.
May you like
"No."
"I chose the innocent child you tried to destroy."
