Chapter 2

Through my tears, everything blurred except my daughter, Lily Rodriguez. After three years, she'd grown taller. She looked so different.

No matter what, the fact that Lily was alive was the greatest miracle I could have hoped for.

I rushed forward, forcing my way through the crowd before pulling her tightly into my arms. "Lily, come home with Daddy, okay?"

The next second, she sank her teeth into my arm. Then she drove a hard kick into my stomach.

Grimacing in pain, I let go. She ran straight behind August, peeking out from behind him just enough to stick her tongue out at me.

"You're not my daddy anymore. This is my daddy now! I'm not going with you. All you ever do is make me study!

"Daddy isn't like you. He plays games with me and buys me all the candy I want. You never loved me! I don't want a dad like you!"

I stared at Lily in disbelief. It felt as though someone had carved a piece out of my heart.

Lily had always had trouble with her teeth. Her dentist had warned us to limit sweets and take good care of them. Anyone who truly loved her wouldn't keep stuffing her full of candy just to make her smile.

August pulled Lily protectively behind him and flashed me a smug smile. "You probably don't know this, but three years ago, Lily was the one who insisted on faking her death and leaving with us.

"I wanted to leave her with you, but she cried and begged me not to. She said she didn't want to live with a bad father."

My mouth opened, but when I met Lily's eyes, filled with nothing but disgust, the words caught in my throat.

Denise and August had betrayed me. So had my family and friends. Even the daughter I loved more than anything didn't want me anymore.

Seeing the devastation on my face, a flicker of guilt crossed Denise's eyes. Holding the little boy she'd had with August, she walked over and spoke softly, "Graham, no matter what, I wronged you.

"How about this? If you promise to leave August alone from now on, I'll let both Lily and Mason call you Uncle Graham. We'll still be family."

My parents exchanged satisfied glances before nodding. They looked at me as though they were doing me a favor.

"Graham, look how generous August and Denise are. Go apologize to August. Then our family can finally move on."

The woman I'd loved for ten years had become my sister-in-law while the little girl I treasured most had become my niece. The brother who stole everything from me had done nothing wrong.

Somehow, I was the one expected to apologize.

Why?

I'd had enough.

I slapped August. "August was the homewrecker! Why should I apologize—"

Before I could finish, my mother, Faith Rodriguez, smacked my face. "And you still dare to lie? If it weren't for you, August and Denise would've been together a long time ago!"

My vision went black for a moment. The coppery taste of blood flooded my mouth.

Denise hurried over and tried to push me toward the door. "Graham, have you forgotten Mom and Dad have heart problems? Stop acting like this."

I looked up at the face that was both painfully familiar and completely unfamiliar. My eyes burned. "Denise, what did I ever do to make you hate me this much?"

We started dating after graduating from high school. We'd promised each other we'd both attend law school together.

But after August's SAT scores weren't good enough to get into his dream school, my mother locked me in my room.

On the final day to submit enrollment paperwork, she changed my college choice so I'd have to follow August to a small-town university instead.

Denise risked everything to break in through my bedroom window and get me out. Despite her small frame, she had stood protectively in front of me, staring my parents down without flinching.

"I've never seen parents play favorites like this. Graham has every right to chase his own dreams!"

Because of her, we both made it into the same university. She never stopped believing in me, giving me the freedom to pursue my dream of becoming a detective.

Three years into our marriage, I was critically injured during an operation and fell into a coma.

Desperate to save me, Denise, who had never believed in miracles, traveled to a remote mountain chapel that people swore had saved the dying. She climbed every step to its doors on her knees until her forehead was scraped raw, just to bring me back a blessed medal.

Maybe someone up there heard her prayers.

I woke up. When I saw the scar on her forehead, I scolded her for being so foolish.

She only smiled, wrapped her arms around my waist, and whispered, "Graham, the thing I'm most afraid of in this life is losing you."

But in the end, she was the first to let go.

When I was at my lowest, she became another man's wife. She taught my daughter to call someone else "Daddy."

And because of their "deaths," I was transferred out of Major Crimes and reassigned as a warehouse clerk in the department's logistics division.

For the past three years, I'd dreamed every night of Denise and Lily being blown to ashes in the explosion. I'd dreamed of August being captured and tortured to death.

In my desperation, I chased every lead, no matter how dangerous, refusing to give up until I found the killer.

Only to learn that every last bit of it had been an elaborate lie they created together.