CHAPTER 13

“I HIRED A detective,” Ambert said.

He was expecting to see fury on Layla’s face but what registered there was frustration—and helplessness. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” she said in a weak, unconvincing voice. “I was just trying to amend.”

“Amend how?”

“Did you know what happened to her family?” Layla asked her, voice breaking.

“Tell me,” he said, just to goad her to continue talking and let it all hang out.

“Ralph, her husband, was sent to a mental institution,” she said, voice on the brink of crying. “Their daughter, Michelle…” She spoke haltingly, pain hovering on her face like an unwanted mask. “She almost died… she tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills… she survived but her kidney and other organs were damaged… she’d need dialysis all her life… she’s sickly now, she even suffers from, some memory loss at times… She paused and stared blankly in front of her. “I’ve ruined her life.”

Ambert already knew that and it was the most painful part of the detective’s repo