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Hearing the commotion. Olivia and Mava rushed into
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Hearing the commotion, Olivia and Maya rushed into the living room. They pretended to mediate, to calm me down, while whispering frantically in my ear.
“Mom, we were supposed to fake our deaths togeth-
er! What are you doing?”
My voice was a choked whisper, full of pain. “The plan changed. Howard caught me with the gold. Wh- at do we do now? I can’t put it back. The last time I tried to divorce him, I had no money and nowhere to go. I can’t make that same mistake twice.”
Olivia told me not to panic. She had an idea. “Take the gold and go to Blackwater Ridge. We’ll meet you
there.”
I nodded.
I pretended to shove her away, my voice filled with despair. “Don’t any of you try to stop me! I’m getting
this divorce today!”
Olivia let out a cry and fell dramatically to the floor.
Maya lunged forward and grabbed my legs. “Mom, calm down! You have to calm down!”
I feigned a kick in her direction. “Get off me! No one is stopping me! I’m leaving now!”
Maya’s acting was superb. She rolled across the floor
three times.
11
Howard had seen enough. “Let her go!” he roared. She’s being completely unreasonable! A woman her age, abandoning her husband and children! Let’s see how long she lasts out there on her own.”
I wasn’t that old. I was only fifty. I had plenty of time
اصلييد
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to start over. If I waited until seventy, it really would
be too late.
Howard was convinced I’d be back in a few days, tail between my legs.
Instead, I faked my death.
But even in “death,” I couldn’t let Serena’s daughter off the hook. I had to plant a thorn in Howard’s heart, one that would twist every time he looked at her.
Olivia gave me the final piece of the plan. “We have
to do it on the road they take to rescue Sienna. Make
them feel it for the rest of their lives.”
