Chapter 1 - THE SLAP
The slap was so loud the anniversary candles shook.
Grace Walker did not scream.
She stood beside the dining table with one hand on her burning cheek and the other protecting the small curve of her stomach.
Across from her, Ethan looked almost shocked by what he had done.
Almost.
Behind him stood Lauren Pierce in a black dress, wearing the perfume Grace had smelled on Ethan's shirts for weeks.
"Don't speak to Lauren like that again," Ethan snapped.
Grace stared at him.
"This is our fifth anniversary."
Lauren slipped her hand around Ethan's arm.
"I think she still doesn't understand."
Grace looked at her husband.
"Understand what?"
"That this marriage is over," Lauren said.
Grace glanced at the cream-colored box beside Ethan's plate.
Inside was an ultrasound picture.
Seventeen weeks.
She had planned to tell him tonight.
Instead, he had brought home his mistress.
Grace reached for her phone.
Ethan frowned.
"Who are you calling?"
"No one."
She opened a thread with three names and typed three words.
I need you.
Lauren laughed.
"Very dramatic."
Grace locked the phone.
"No."
"What was dramatic was loving a man before he had money, selling my grandmother's jewelry when his company couldn't make payroll, and then watching him bring another woman into our house."
Ethan froze.
"You sold your jewelry?"
"I never told you because I loved you."
The doorbell rang.
Then headlights swept across the windows.
Three black vehicles stopped outside.
Grace whispered the promise her brothers had made years ago.
"If I ever become afraid to call you, the promise is over."
The front door opened.
Nathan walked in first.
Caleb and Marcus followed.
Nathan saw the mark on Grace's face.
His expression went cold.
"Grace."
May you like
He looked at Ethan.
"Who hit you?"
