She had not pushed Chloe.

The cameras showed it clearly: she had only blocked, only interposed herself, only stopped a grown woman from hurting a small child.

But Chloe’s eyes went wide with a theatrical, calculating outrage.

“Did you just put your hands on me?”

Chapter 9 — Who Will He Believe

“I did not touch you, ma’am,” Marisol said, keeping her voice steady.

“I am simply protecting the girl.”

And then Chloe pulled out her smartphone, and a sickening, triumphant smile spread across her face, and she showed me, though she did not know I was watching, exactly how calculated her cruelty truly was.