Chapter 2

2: 2

I dragged myself home, drained to the bone. Benjamin, who was supposed to be working late, sat on the couch with his mother, and a handful of relatives from his side had come too.

At the sound of the door, they all turned at once. They'd clearly been waiting for me.

"Well, look who came back. I figured you'd be too ashamed to show your face."

My mother-in-law's voice dripped with mockery.

I was exhausted.

I'd just lost the baby, worn out in body and mind, and the last thing I wanted was to fight with her. I turned to go to my room.

But my husband, Benjamin, stopped me.

"Lacey, come here. There are things you don't get to run from."

His tone was ugly.

When I didn't move, he grabbed me and forced me down onto the couch.

Ada gave a cold snort and shoved a sheet of paper across the table.

I looked down.

"A confession?"

Ten offenses listed out in cramped little lines. The whole thing felt absurd.

I'd lost my child. Shouldn't I be the one grieving the most? Instead of comfort, I was being charged with a crime?

I tried to force a smile and couldn't.

All I could manage was to ask coldly,

"Mom, what is this supposed to mean?"

Ada sneered, her finger practically jabbing into my face.

"Which of these charges is wrong, huh?"

"I told you not to be on your phone, not to drink cold water. Look what you brought on yourself. A perfectly good grandson, gone!"

I swallowed my anger.

"How is any of this reasonable? I lost the baby too, and I'm heartbroken. What does that have to do with me not changing my name to have a boy?"

Ada slammed her palm on the table.

"How does it not? You wouldn't change your name, so my grandson felt you didn't value him, and he wouldn't come to our family. That's why he left!"

Her nonsense was so outrageous it almost made me laugh.

But the relatives around us all chimed in on her side.

"Exactly. It's just changing a name, how hard is that? Not an ounce of sincerity. No wonder she can't carry a boy."

Benjamin's aunt clicked her tongue twice.

"If you ask me, this has to do with how many men a woman's been with. Our generation only ever dated one man, and none of us ever had this, what do you call it, a stalled pregnancy? I'd say Lacey played around too much when she was young and wrecked her body."

Watching these relatives go further and further,

I fought back my nausea and slammed the cup down hard on the table.

Bang! "That's enough! Watch your mouths, or don't expect me to keep cleaning up after you!"

I wanted to go to my room and rest, but Ada forced a pen into my hand.

"You sign this and admit your guilt. My good grandson is gone. Your family owes me an explanation."

That put me on guard. I threw the pen aside.

"What are you getting at?"

Ada said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You killed my grandson, so don't you owe my son compensation? You put up a million dollars and we'll call it settled. Otherwise..."

The threat in her voice was plain to everyone.

I looked at Benjamin, wanting him to rein his mother in, but he avoided my eyes.

He'd known about this all along.

The whole point of this circus was suddenly obvious. It was about the money.

I couldn't stay in this house. Not one person here was on my side. I grabbed my phone to leave.

But Ada, watching me like a hawk, wasn't going to give me the chance.

She lunged at me and clamped down hard on my hand.

Three or four relatives closed in to hold me down.

I struggled and refused to let go.

Then Benjamin, who'd been silent for so long off to the side, suddenly spoke.

"Are they wrong? If it wasn't your fault, how would a perfectly healthy baby lose its heartbeat in your belly?"

"A human life. Don't you owe me compensation for that?"