Chapter 6
Naomi did not answer with questions.
“Confirmed,” she said through the phone. “Emergency controls are active.”
Graham heard her.
His face hardened.
“You have no right to freeze marital funds.”
Naomi’s voice remained calm.
“They are not marital funds.”
The dining room went silent.
Lorraine looked at Graham.
“What does that mean?”
He ignored her.
“Audrey, end the call.”
I shifted Micah carefully against my shoulder.
His head rested beneath my chin.
“No.”
Graham lowered his voice.
“You are tired. You’ve been traveling. You don’t understand what you’re seeing.”
I looked at the child sitting in my place at the table.
At Sabrina’s hand resting possessively beside Graham’s plate.
At Micah’s empty chair pushed against the wall.
At the untouched suitcase near the doorway, bright toys visible through the partly opened zipper.
“I understand perfectly.”
Sabrina crossed her arms.
“Micah became aggressive.”
Micah trembled.
I looked down at him.
He had not spoken once.
“What did he do?”
“He frightened Theo.”
“How?”
“He took things.”
Lorraine added, “He became jealous when Theo started spending time here.”
“Spending time?”
Naomi was still listening.
I turned my phone slightly so every word entered the microphone clearly.
“How long has Sabrina lived in this house?”
Graham’s silence answered first.
Sabrina lifted her chin.
“Seven months.”
Lorraine corrected her.
“Nearly nine.”
Graham looked furious.
Naomi said, “Noted.”
Sabrina’s confidence faltered.
Theo looked between the adults.
Then asked Graham quietly, “Dad, are we leaving?”
The word landed in the dining room.
Dad.
Graham closed his eyes.
Sabrina moved toward Theo, but it was too late.
I stared at my husband.
“How old is he?”
No one answered.
Theo was five.
Graham and I had been married for seven years.
Sabrina had worked for him for six.
The arithmetic finished the conversation.
Graham finally looked at Micah.
Not with love.
With blame.
As if my frightened child had ruined the secret simply by surviving long enough for me to come home.
I turned away before Micah could see his father’s face.
“Naomi, send a pediatric advocate and a doctor.”
Graham snapped, “He doesn’t need a doctor.”
Micah buried his face against my neck.
I answered without looking at Graham.
May you like
“That is no longer your decision.”
Read the full story 👉 Theo’s single word revealed that Sabrina’s place in the mansion—and in Graham’s life—had begun long before Audrey left for Seattle.
