“I came on my own. A nurse told me,” Lily explained hurriedly, then pleaded, “Daddy, please let Mommy go. Her leg just had surgery—it’s bleeding!”
For a moment I thought Richard would soften. Instead, he slammed the table.
“So your mother taught you to lie too? Do you think I don’t know her leg isn’t injured?”
Terrified, Lily flinched and stepped back, her eyes wide with fear.
I had told Richard about my surgery. Clearly, he had forgotten.
“Ma’am, that’s wrong of you,” Vanessa jumped in. “Teaching a child to lie? No wonder Richard’s angry.”
“Bad woman! Bad woman!” Lily cried, trembling with rage. She didn’t have the words, but she knew Vanessa was cruel.
“Shut up!” Richard roared again, glaring at me. “So you speak ill of Vanessa in front of Lily too? With such a poisonous tongue, how can you call yourself a Hayes wife? I should never have let you raise her. If Lily had grown up with Vanessa, she’d never have learned to lie.”
Vanessa’s eyes sparkled—she clearly thought she was about to replace me.
“Daddy, don’t listen to that bad woman!” Lily sobbed. “I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, look at Mommy’s leg!”
But Richard refused to listen.