Chapter 1 - Daddy Told Me Not to Tell
Noah’s palms slipped against the marble.
The four-year-old tried desperately to lift his head, but the heavy metal chain around his neck tightened as Eleanor pulled backward.
“Bad boy eat like dog.”
Beneath Noah’s face sat a large metal bowl filled with a wet brown mixture.
He cried harder.
Then Emma entered the kitchen.
For one terrible second she simply processed what she was seeing.
Her son.
The chain.
The bowl.
Eleanor.
Then she moved.
Emma charged across the kitchen, seized Eleanor’s wrist and ripped her hand away.
The chain went slack.
Her free hand struck Eleanor across the face.
“Don’t ever touch my son!”
Eleanor staggered.
Emma immediately pulled the chain completely away from Noah and gathered him against her chest.
Noah clung to her.
His entire body trembled.
Emma crouched, checking his face and neck.
“Baby, look at me.”
But Noah wasn’t looking at her.
He was staring past her.
At Ethan.
His father stood near the doorway.
And something about Ethan’s expression frightened Emma almost as much as Eleanor had.
Noah whispered:
“Daddy told me not to tell.”
Emma stopped.
“What?”
Ethan looked away.
That was enough.
Emma slowly stood.
Her eyes moved from Ethan to the disgusting bowl.
Then back.
She grabbed it with both hands.
“Emma, wait—”
She crossed the kitchen and dumped everything over Ethan’s head.
The thick mixture poured through his hair and down his shirt.
He recoiled.
Noah pointed.
“Daddy put the chain on me first.”
The empty bowl slowly lowered in Emma’s hands.
Ethan wiped his eyes.
He didn’t deny it.
Eleanor suddenly looked alarmed.
“Ethan?”
His voice was quiet.
“Your mother wasn’t supposed to find out.”
Emma stared at him.
“My mother?”
Noah sniffled.
Then he spoke again.
“Because Daddy said Grandma isn’t really—”
Ethan’s head snapped toward him.
“Noah.”
The boy stopped.
Emma stepped between them.
“Let him finish.”
Noah hid behind her leg.
Eleanor’s face had gone strangely pale.
Emma turned toward her.
“What was he going to say?”
Eleanor said nothing.
Emma looked down.
The chain lay on the marble floor.
Only now did she notice something attached near its clasp.
A small brass tag.
She picked it up.
One side contained an engraved number:
The other contained two words:
MERCER HOUSE.
Ethan moved immediately.
“Give me that.”
Emma closed her fist around it.
“No.”
Eleanor whispered:
“You have no idea what you just found.”
Emma looked from Eleanor to Ethan.
Then Noah tugged her blouse.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy keeps another one downstairs.”
Emma’s blood ran cold.
“Another chain?”
May you like
Noah shook his head.
“Another number.”
