Chapter 3 - THE BETRAYAL AT HOMEI spun around, holding the heavy flashlight like a weapon.
Standing in the doorway, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, was Mark. His shirt was rumpled, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked like a ghost of the man I married.
"Mark!" I gasped, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Where have you been?! Someone texted me! Lily is in the ICU—the wall is full of toxic mold and poison pipes! What is going on?!"
Mark didn't rush to comfort me. He didn't ask about Lily. His eyes locked onto the metal flash drive in my hand.
"Give me the drive, Sarah," he said, his voice flat, emotionless, and terrifyingly cold.
"What?" I stepped back, my spine hitting the crib. "Mark, our daughter was dying in this room! Daisy ruined her paws trying to save her! What is this drive?"
"Give it to me, Sarah! You don't understand what you've uncovered!" Mark bellowed, stepping forward. Daisy stepped between us, showing her sharp teeth and releasing a low, menacing growl at her own master.
Mark stopped, glancing at the dog with utter contempt. "That stupid dog ruined everything. If she hadn't started scratching, the baby would have just stayed sick for a few more months, we would have moved out, and I would have been $5 million richer!"
The room tilted. My world shattered into a million sharp pieces.
"You... you knew?" I whispered, horror rising in my throat. "You put that pipe in our wall? You let Lily breathe toxic mold?!"
"I didn't have a choice!" Mark snapped, tears of frustration suddenly filling his eyes. "Vanguard Enterprises was illegally dumping industrial chemical runoff into the city's suburban water system to save billions! I found out six months ago. Arthur Vance found out I knew. He gave me two options: take $5 million and let them route an underground exhaust/drain line through our lot, or watch my family die!"
"So you chose to poison your own daughter?!" I screamed, rage blinding me.
May you like
"It wasn't supposed to leak into her room!" Mark yelled, losing control. "It was supposed to vented outside! But the seals failed! Now Vance's men know the seal broke, and if I don't give them that drive containing their internal ledger, they will kill us all tonight!"
Before I could answer, the glass in the nursery window shattered inward.
