Chapter 1 - Your Husband Is Not Marcus Hale
My suitcase hit the floor when I saw Lily curled on the cream sofa.
She was crying, breathing in short, frightened gasps, one hand pressed against her chest. Toys were scattered across the living-room floor as though she had tried to reach the hallway before becoming too weak.
I dropped beside her.
“Lily, Mommy’s here.”
My husband stood near the kitchen doorway.
Marcus watched us with a faint smile.
“She needed to learn.”
I looked up at him.
“What did you do?”
“She wouldn’t stop crying for you.”
I called 911 with hands that barely obeyed me.
Seven minutes later, two paramedics rushed through the front door. Dana went directly to Lily, speaking calmly as she checked her breathing and placed an oxygen mask near her face.
The second paramedic entered with a medical bag.
Then he stopped.
His eyes locked on my husband.
The urgency in his face became recognition.
Then fear.
“Step away from him. Now.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Dana stayed beside Lily while the male paramedic moved between me and my husband.
He lowered his voice.
“Your husband is not Marcus Hale.”
Marcus took one step backward.
The paramedic reached for his shoulder radio.
“His real name is Caleb Ross.”
May you like
Police officers appeared behind him in the hallway.
For the first time since I had met my husband, the man I called Marcus looked genuinely afraid.
