Chapter 1 - THE SLAPThe slap came without warning.
One second, I was standing in Diane Carter's immaculate kitchen with one hand resting protectively over my eight-month-pregnant belly.
The next, my face snapped sideways.
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the high-pitched ringing in my ears.
I grabbed the kitchen counter before my swollen body could fall.
"Please, Diane," I whispered. "You could hurt the baby."
She didn't even look guilty.
She simply pointed at the divorce papers scattered across the marble floor.
"You destroyed your last chance to leave with dignity."
I stared at her.
"Ryan never asked for a divorce."
Her lips curled.
"He doesn't have the courage to tell you himself."
That was when I understood.
This wasn't a misunderstanding.
This was an attack.
For months, Diane had told me that her son regretted marrying me. She had called me temporary, opportunistic, weak.
That morning, she had placed divorce papers in front of me and demanded my signature.
I had called Ryan repeatedly.
Straight to voicemail.
"I won't sign something I didn't agree to."
Her expression hardened.
"Then sign another copy."
"No."
Her hand struck my face again.
My shoulder slammed against the refrigerator.
The baby kicked violently.
I wrapped both arms around my stomach.
"Please stop."
Diane leaned close.
"You're making this much more dramatic than it needs to be."
She raised her hand again.
Then the front door unlocked.
Click.
Diane froze.
Ryan stood in the doorway.
His suitcase dropped from his hand.
His eyes moved from my swollen cheek...
to my bruised wrist...
to his mother's raised hand.
"Mom," he said quietly.
"What are you doing?"
Diane lowered her hand.
"She attacked me."
Ryan didn't answer.
He crossed the kitchen in three steps.
He pulled his mother away from me.
Then he saw the divorce papers.
He picked one up.
His face changed.
"I never signed this."
Diane smiled.
"Of course you didn't."
Ryan stared at the signature.
Then at his mother.
"Mom..."
He held the page toward the light.
"That's your handwriting."
For the first time, Diane's smile disappeared.
And I realized something terrifying.
The woman who had spent two years trying to destroy my marriage had finally been caught.
But she wasn't frightened.
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She was angry.
And angry people like Diane were dangerous.
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