My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

Think of Lily before you make claims you can’t take back.

Gabriel listened once, then asked me to save the file in its original form.

For the first time, their polished words were beginning to look like evidence.

PART 4

At 1:16 the next morning, a hospital social worker named Denise entered with a detective from the local police department.

The detective introduced herself as Mara Ortiz.

She did not wear the expression of someone impressed by a surname.

“We’re going to talk separately from your family,” she said.