You need to come home.
We need to discuss what you’ve done.
Then came the anger.
Emily stopped listening after the first few.
Ruth told her not to delete anything.
Daniel had once relied on Emily’s silence.
Now his own words were becoming part of the record.
Patricia called Margaret that evening.
“You’ve gone too far,” she said.
Margaret put the call on speaker with Emily’s permission.
“Emily is safe.”
“Safe? From her husband? Don’t be ridiculous.
Daniel has provided everything for her.
That house, her car, the nursery—”
“Bruises don’t become acceptable because the room around them is expensive.”
Patricia inhaled sharply.
“You have no idea what happens inside their marriage.”
Emily looked at Margaret.
Margaret replied, “That’s an interesting defense.”
Patricia hung up.
The next morning, Daniel appeared at Margaret’s house.
He did not pound on the door.
That would have been too obvious.
He rang the bell and stood on the porch wearing the same expensive calm he had worn the first day Emily introduced him.
Margaret opened the inner door but left the locked storm door between them.
“I want to see my wife.”
“She doesn’t want to see you.”
“Did she say that, or did you?”
From behind Margaret came Emily’s voice.
“I said it.”
Daniel’s expression shifted.
Emily stood in the hallway, one hand on her belly.
For a second, Margaret almost told her to go back.
Then she saw her daughter’s face.
Emily was afraid.
But she had chosen to stand there anyway.
Daniel leaned closer to the glass.
“Come home.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
His pleasant expression disappeared.
“You’re making a huge mistake.”
“Maybe,” Emily said.
“But it’s mine to make.”
Daniel’s eyes moved to Margaret.
“You’ve poisoned her against me.”
Margaret held up her phone.
“You need to leave.”
“Or what?”
A car door closed behind him.
Ruth stepped onto the sidewalk.
She had come because Margaret had called when Daniel’s vehicle appeared on the security camera.
Daniel glanced at Ruth, then back at Margaret.
“Who is she?”
Ruth walked up the path.
“Someone suggesting you make a very good decision and leave.”
