Chapter 3 - The Price of a Perfect Life
Hook: “You chose a stock portfolio over our daughter,” Sarah screamed. Robert’s response was colder than ice.
Sarah spun around, clutching the document to her chest. “You knew. You knew the whole time.”
Robert stepped into the cottage, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t look at Rosemary; his eyes were fixed entirely on his wife. “Sarah, be reasonable. You were in a fragile state. The doctors said Emma wouldn’t make it. My mother did what was best for our family.”
“Best for our family?!” Sarah shrieked. “You gave away our child because she was sick! You lied to me for six years! I cried myself to sleep for months feeling like a piece of me was missing, and you let me believe I was just depressed!”
“We had Lily,” Robert said, his voice infuriatingly calm, as if he were explaining a bad business merger. “Lily was healthy. She was perfect. If we had brought Emma home, our lives would have been a endless cycle of hospitals, surgeries, and public pity. The Mitchell name—”
“Drown the Mitchell name!” Sarah spat. “You are a monster. Your mother is a monster.”
From the hallway, a small voice whimpered. “Grandma Rose?”
Emma stood there, clutching a worn teddy bear, her eyes wide with fear as she looked at the shouting adults.
Sarah’s heart melted. She took a step toward Emma, but Robert grabbed her arm, his grip tight and painful. “We are leaving. Now. If you make a scene, Sarah, I will make sure you lose Lily. My family owns the judges in this county. You will be declared mentally unstable, and you will never see either of them again.”
Sarah looked at her husband, seeing him clearly for the first time. The handsome, polished executive was gone. In his place was a hollow puppet controlled by his mother’s wealth and ambition.
“Let go of me,” Sarah said, her voice dropping to a deadly, quiet hiss.
She wrenched her arm free. She looked at Rosemary. “I will be back. I swear to you, I will be back for both of you.”
She walked out of the cottage, her mind racing. She got into the SUV, where Lily was waiting. As she drove back to their grand colonial house, she realized she couldn't go back to her old life. She was living in a gilded cage built on the bones of her abandoned daughter.
When she arrived home, Eleanor’s black town car was already parked in the driveway.
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The matriarch was waiting in the living room, sipping tea from a delicate porcelain cup. She looked up as Sarah entered, her smile sharp and patronizing.
“I hear you’ve been taking some unauthorized trips downtown, Sarah,” Eleanor said softly. “I think it’s time we have a talk about expectations.”
