"But something happened to Bess! Please, tell Earl to call me back! I'm begging you—leave her alone."
Insults and mockery flooded my inbox within seconds.
My mother-in-law said I had no class, no dignity. Mutual friends said I was the jealous type, competing with another woman over a man who didn't want me.
None of the attacks mattered. All I wanted was to reach Earl.
The call came. His voice crackled through the speaker, sharp with accusation.
"Patsy, do you have to drag our family's name through the mud in front of everyone?"
"Norma and I made a deal. Once I finish this ski trip with her and we've checked off every last regret, we'll put each other behind us for good."
"Stop making a scene. Please."
He sounded exhausted, put-upon—as if I were the unreasonable wife.
I cut him off, my voice breaking.
"Bess sent me a message. Something happened to her!"
"Earl, you're her father. Why are you so heartless toward us?"
Maybe it was the raw desperation in my voice. Earl went quiet.
"I just sent her somewhere to correct her behavior. Nothing could've happened."
"Bess is my daughter too. I'd never hurt her."
Helplessness spread through my chest like poison. I sobbed until my throat tore.
Earl was silent for a long moment.
"Fine. I'll take you to pick her up."
"But after we get her, you owe Norma and me an apology for ruining our trip."
As long as my daughter came back to me, I'd do anything.
Including walking away from him. Giving him what he wanted.
When I got into his car, he and Norma were kissing while their friends cheered them on.
Norma's lashes glistened with tears. "Earl, I have no more regrets now. I won't come bother you again."
"Let me say goodbye properly. And this time, I really am taking Marshmallow with me, okay?"
Earl's gaze was full of longing and anguish. "I don't want to lose you. But I have a wife and daughter. I have to be responsible for them."
"Why didn't I fight harder for you back then?"
I watched them cling to each other and felt nothing.
All I could do was urge him, frantic. "Take me to Bess. Now."
Every person in the car turned to stare at me with open contempt, the unwelcome intruder.
The car pulled up to a dog training facility.
My heart seized.
Norma caught the look on my face and let out a soft, derisive laugh.
"Patsy, why can't you just appreciate what Earl's trying to do?"
"You don't understand him at all."
Earl looked at me with disappointment carved into every line of his face. "I just wanted to teach Bess to be kind to animals."
"You're my wife. Why won't you even try to understand me?"
I ran toward the man in charge, demanding to know where my daughter was.
But the man's eyes darted away from mine. He looked past me, silently pleading with Norma.
My stomach dropped. "Where is my daughter?"
Earl rubbed the bridge of his nose and said flatly, "Is the kid trained up? Bring her out."
Behind the iron bars, dogs were snarling, gnawing on the leg bones of their own kind.
It hit me all at once. This place trained vicious, dangerous dogs. Dogs that mauled.
Cold sweat soaked through my clothes. I stared at Earl in disbelief.
The man's evasion shattered the last wall holding me together. I lost all control.
I screamed, demanding to know where she was.
Then I turned—and my gaze landed on the iron cage in the corner.
The sound that left me was barely human.
"Bess... is that Bess lying in there?"
My daughter was naked. Covered in blood. Lying motionless inside a cage.
Every face in the room went white.
The facility owner stammered, "Mr. Sanchez signed a liability waiver! We guaranteed obedience, not survival..."
"And you people hid her medical history! She has a heart condition—why didn't you tell us? That's not on us."
I collapsed to the ground, clutching my daughter's bruised, purple body.
She was cold. Terrifyingly cold. Not a trace of warmth left in her.
No breath, either.
A raw, guttural wail tore out of me. Anguish and despair, tangled together until I couldn't tell them apart.
My eyes locked onto Earl, who stood frozen beside me, the color drained from his face.
"Why?"
"Why couldn't you just let us go?"
