The door opened. The sharp click of Sophia’s high heels echoed across the ground.
She closed the door and looked down at me in the thin strip of light seeping through the crack.
“Alex, do you know?” she said softly. “After that car accident five years ago, your hand could have been saved.”
She lifted my chin, her fingernails biting into my skin.
“But when the doctor asked whether to save the mother or the child, Marcus said your hand wasn’t important.”
“What mattered was getting rid of that burden—so it wouldn’t get in the way of me marrying into the family.”
My whole body trembled.
“You’re lying…”
“Lying?”
Sophia burst out laughing.
“Oh, and one more thing. That night during the blizzard—your unlucky daughter had a fever, didn’t she? You called Marcus, begging for help.”
“I was the one who hung up.”
“I even blocked you afterward. So tell me—was the snow heavy that night?”
“Did that little bastard die thoroughly enough?”
A hoarse scream ripped from my throat as I lunged at her, my left hand clamping around her neck.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
Sophia was knocked to the floor, struggling wildly.
“Help… Marcus… help me…”
The door was kicked open.