"Isn't this exactly what you wanted to see?"
"I'm miserable now. The tears won't stop. Are you happy?"
"You're a psychopath! A monster! I wish you'd never loved me."
I wished I'd never loved him either.
In the war between the Delgado brothers over their inheritance, I was nothing more than a spy Roger had planted at his younger brother's side.
My job was to help Roger get the evidence he needed to destroy his brother completely.
I'd only meant to take the money and do the job.
So I endured Douglas's obsessive behavior, again and again.
But during our marriage, his feelings ran hot. Blazing, even.
He'd flirt with other women just to watch me cry, then come crawling back afterward with the most tender apologies imaginable.
Aside from his sick fixation, he treated me like a princess. The center of his world.
He called it love.
And I believed him.
After our daughter was born, I even started thinking we could build a real life together.
But now he'd used our child's life to kill every last shred of that hope.
Douglas Delgado was a lunatic through and through, and I would never forgive him again.
He hovered beside me, wiping my tears with clumsy, helpless hands.
It was the first time Douglas had ever truly faced my pain.
Instead of treating my anguish as some twisted form of foreplay.
And it had cost my daughter's life to get here.
"Letty, I was wrong. I just wanted to see you cry."
"I never meant to kill our daughter. Please believe me, okay?"
His eyes were swimming with regret.
I felt nothing. I didn't care.
Because my daughter was never coming back.
I no longer had the energy to figure out whether this was another one of his acts.
"It's too late, Douglas."
"Once the funeral is over, we're getting a divorce."
The moment the words left my mouth, the color drained from his face.
Before, with Roger's promises propping me up, I'd never made a scene no matter how many women Douglas chased.
I'd never once mentioned divorce.
But this time, I was done.
"Please, baby, I'm begging you. Don't leave me."
In his desperation, Douglas dropped to his knees without a shred of dignity.
He tried to pull me and our daughter into his arms.
I slapped him so hard he fell sideways.
He didn't even get angry. He pressed his cheek into my palm and said, "Hit me again. Make me understand what I did wrong."
"Let me fix this sick obsession. I'll never hurt you again."
He and Roger had been groomed as heirs since childhood. Both carried a bone-deep arrogance, a refusal to bow to anyone.
Claire Barber, watching from the side, couldn't hide the flash of jealousy in her eyes.
"You know, I've heard there's a type of anesthesia that can make someone appear dead."
"Miss Fox, Douglas is about to inherit the family fortune."
"To make him feel guilty enough to never forget you, you actually went after your own daughter?"
The instant those words landed, Douglas froze mid-plea.
Then understanding dawned on his face.
"So that's what this is. Letty loves me so much she set a trap."
"I was wondering how our daughter could die from a simple anesthesia."
"But you went too far this time. Our little games are between us. How could you gamble with our daughter's life?"
Ha.
The rebuttal caught in my throat.
All I felt was the sheer absurdity of it.
Just then, Roger called.
"Douglas, stop giving Letitia a hard time. Quit acting like a child."
"Let the girl be buried and laid to rest. She's Delgado blood. Don't make a spectacle of this."
Roger meant well, but the color vanished from Douglas's face in an instant.
Claire didn't even bother being subtle.
"Funny how concerned your big brother is about your wife."
"Douglas, you don't think your sister-in-law would hedge her bets and carry on with your brother behind your back, do you?"
