Chapter 3

I slammed my fists against the heavy iron doors. "Help! Somebody help us!"

"Step back, Ruby," Carlos ordered.

I heard the metallic clink of his tools.

"Mommy?" A tiny, broken whisper pierced the dark.

My heart stopped. "Kevin? Baby, I'm here! Mommy is right here!"

I dropped to my knees, crawling blindly across the freezing, rusted floor. My hands brushed against a tiny, shivering frame. I pulled him into my chest. Kevin was ice-cold. He was trembling so violently his teeth chattered against my collarbone. His small fingers dug into my shirt like tiny claws.

"I've got you," I sobbed, wrapping my body around his to share my warmth. "I've got you, baby. You're safe."

The heavy iron lock gave way with a deafening screech. Carlos shoved the massive doors open.

The pale moonlight flooded the container, illuminating the nightmare.

I finally saw my son. His lips were blue. His clothes were soaked in mud and freezing rain. I stripped off my wet jacket and wrapped him in Carlos’s heavy, dry coat.

I rubbed his arms frantically, trying to force the warmth back into his fragile body.

"Mommy," Kevin whimpered, burying his face in my neck. "It was so cold. I didn't like the game."

I froze. "Game? What game, baby? Who brought you here?"

Kevin sniffled, his tiny fingers gripping my shirt. "Auntie Chloe. She said we were playing hide and seek. She told me to hide in the dark car. But she locked the doors. She didn't come back."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

Chloe.

"Ruby," Carlos said sharply.

He was kneeling near the back of the container. He held up a small, glittering object in the beam of his flashlight.

I walked over, clutching Kevin to my chest. I looked down at Carlos's gloved hand.

It was a diamond earring. A massive, flawless, teardrop diamond set in platinum.

A wave of pure, suffocating nausea washed over me. I knew that earring. It was a custom-made, limited-edition piece.

I had seen the velvet box sitting on Lewis’s dresser just yesterday. He had bought it for Chloe.

"Take me to the Kensington family hospital," I demanded. My voice didn't even sound like my own. It was lethal. "Now."

The pristine, glaringly white hallways of the private hospital were silent.

I kicked the double doors of the VIP suite open with my muddy boot.

Lewis was sitting on the edge of the plush hospital bed. He was gently stroking Chloe’s hair. She was hooked up to an IV, sipping water, recovering from her fake "migraine."

They both jumped as the doors slammed against the walls.

"Ruby?" Lewis stood up, his eyes widening in shock.

I marched into the room. I was covered in mud, grease, and freezing rain. I held my traumatized, shivering son tightly in my arms.

"Kevin!" Lewis gasped, taking a step forward. "He's okay? Where did you find him?"

"Don't you dare touch him," I snarled, stepping back. I held Kevin tighter. He buried his face in my neck, terrified of his own father's loud voice.

I reached into my pocket. I pulled out the teardrop diamond and threw it violently across the room. It hit the floor and skidded directly to a stop at Chloe’s feet, gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights.

Chloe looked down. All the color instantly drained from her perfectly made-up face.

"I found him locked in a freezing shipping container by the river," I said, my voice echoing off the sterile walls. "And I found that right next to him."

I pointed a shaking finger at Chloe. "Call the police, Lewis. Have her arrested for attempted murder."

For a split second, absolute silence filled the room.

Then, the performance began.

Chloe let out a piercing, hysterical sob. She scrambled backward on the bed, pulling the pristine white sheets up to her chin, acting like a terrified victim.

"Lewis!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face in perfect, calculated drops. "She's lying! I would never hurt Kevin! I love him! I bought him toys just yesterday!"

She pointed a trembling finger at me. "She stole that earring from my purse! She stole it to frame me because she hates me! She knows you love me, Lewis!"

"You locked my son in a metal box to freeze to death!" I screamed, stepping toward the bed. "He told me! He said Auntie Chloe played hide and seek!"

"He's four years old!" Chloe sobbed, hiding her face against Lewis’s arm. "You coached him to say that! You kidnapped your own son just to destroy me!"

I looked at Lewis. I waited for him to see the truth. I waited for the man I married to look at his shivering, traumatized child and realize what this monster had done.

Lewis looked down at the custom diamond earring on the floor.

He looked at Kevin, who was crying silently into my shoulder.

Then, he looked at me.

There was no love in his eyes. There was no relief that his son was alive. There was only pure, unadulterated disgust.

"You are sick, Ruby," Lewis whispered.

The words hit me like a physical blow.

"What?" I choked out.

"You actually locked Kevin in a container just to frame Chloe?" Lewis’s voice rose, vibrating with furious, self-righteous rage. "You would put our son's life in danger just to win some pathetic, jealous feud? You are a monster."

"Lewis, she did this! She tried to kill him! Look at your son!"

"Shut up!" he roared. He stepped in front of Chloe, shielding her from me as if I were the threat. "You are an unfit mother. You are completely insane. You need to be locked in a psych ward."

He pulled his phone from his pocket, his eyes locked onto mine with lethal hatred.

"I am calling the police," Lewis stated coldly. "I am having you arrested for child endangerment. And I swear to God, Ruby, you are never allowed to see Kevin again."

I stood perfectly still. The sterile hospital lights buzzed above me, casting harsh shadows over the room.

I looked at the man I had sacrificed everything for. The man I had loved. He was standing over his murderous mistress, threatening to take my child away. He didn't even ask if Kevin was hurt.

He didn't even offer him a blanket.

Something inside my chest shattered. It didn't just break. It turned completely to ash, blowing away in a cold, unforgiving wind.

The desperate, foolish girl who loved Lewis was dead.