Chapter 2 - The Sentence That Stopped the Room
"Everybody out."
Cullen did not raise his voice.
He didn't need to.
The room moved at once.
Tove stayed.
"I'm not leaving my own engagement party because an eight-year-old invented a story."
"This is my house."
"It was going to be ours."
"Not tonight."
Mireya flinched when Tove stepped forward.
Cullen noticed.
That frightened him more than the words.
He crouched beside his daughter. "Sweetheart, you don't have to tell me everything at once. Just tell me what you meant."
Mireya stared at the rug.
"Mommy couldn't find her inhaler either."
Cullen's throat tightened.
"Mommy had an inhaler in her purse," Mireya whispered. "Tove took it."
"That's insane," Tove snapped.
Mireya recoiled.
Cullen stood between them.
"Keep your voice down."
Tove's eyes flashed. "She was six, Cullen. She was asleep that night."
Mireya shook her head.
"I woke up because Mommy was crying in the kitchen."
Cullen could barely breathe himself.
"What did you see?"
"Tove had Mommy's blue purse. Mommy said, 'Give it back.' Tove said, 'You should have signed when you had the chance.'"
Tove went pale.
Cullen turned toward her.
"Signed what?"
"Nothing. She is making this up."
Mireya reached into the pocket of her cardigan.
Her hand came out with a tiny brass key.
"Mommy gave me this before she left. She said if anything happened, I should give it to you."
Cullen stared at the key.
Eighteen months.
His daughter had kept it for eighteen months.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Tears filled Mireya's eyes.
"Because Tove said if I told you, you'd have an accident too."
May you like
Behind them, a glass shattered.
Tove had dropped her champagne flute.
