It almost broke me.
Then Ryan ruined it.
“She doesn’t care about you!” he shouted. “Emma only cares because she’s scared. She’ll throw you away like everyone else!”
Vanessa turned toward him slowly.
Ryan froze.
“Vanessa,” I said quickly. “Look at me.”
She did not.
“Vanessa.”
Her hand moved out of frame.
When it came back, she was holding a gun.
The hospital room stopped breathing.
Detective Bennett silently signaled the tactical team.
I leaned toward the screen, every stitch in my body screaming.
“Don’t.”
Ryan began begging.
“No, no, no, please—”
Vanessa pressed the gun to his forehead.
“This is what Parker men deserve.”
“No,” I said. “This is what Charles taught you to become.”
Her eyes snapped back to mine.
“Don’t psychoanalyze me.”
“I’m not. I’m asking you not to let him write the ending.”
“He wrote yours.”
“No,” I said, voice breaking. “My ending is breathing in my arms.”
I lifted Ethan slightly into the frame.
Vanessa went still.
Her face changed completely.
She stared at my son.
At our blood.
At the child who would have died because of Ryan, because of her encouragement, because of all the poison passed from one generation to the next.
“He’s so small,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Ryan seized the moment. “Vanessa, please. I have money. My father has money. I can help you disappear.”
Her face twisted.
“There it is,” she said softly. “The Parker cure for everything.”
Then she looked back at me.
“What happens if I let him live?”
“He stands trial.”
“He’ll lie.”
“We have the call.”
“He’ll blame me.”
“He already has.”
“He’ll get a lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“He might win.”
My throat tightened.
“He might.”
Vanessa smiled sadly. “At least you’re honest.”
“Come back,” I said.
She laughed. “To what? Prison?”
“To the truth.”
“The truth doesn’t hold you at night.”
“No,” I whispered. “But lies burn everything they touch.”
For a long moment, she only stared.
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