Chapter 1

My mother-in-law, Karen Marsh, had never been particularly fond of me. Even before the wedding, she'd disapproved of how much time I spent working. And when my wife and I had our daughter, Elsie Quinn, she seemed to take it out on her, too.

Still, I'd hoped she could put her feelings aside for one day. It was her 60th birthday, after all. Surely we could get through the celebration without any drama. Apparently, I'd been expecting too much.

My heart broke when I saw Elsie crying. She hardly ever cried. Once, she'd scraped her knee pretty badly at preschool, but she'd just bitten her lip and held back her tears.

And she'd worked so hard on that drawing. For three nights straight, she'd skipped her favorite TV shows to sit at her little desk, carefully going over every detail until she was happy with it.

She'd told me how her cousin, Milo Hopper, had given Karen a drawing once, and Karen had absolutely loved it. She'd gone around telling everyone what a sweet, thoughtful boy he was and had even put his drawing up on the fridge.

Elsie hadn't forgotten that. She figured Karen must really like drawings, so she'd decided to make one for her, too. She'd been so sure Karen would love it.

Instead, Karen had crumpled it up and thrown it in the trash.

I was so furious that I could barely stop shaking.

"Tamsin Whitlock, you—"

"Oh, give it a rest," my sister-in-law, Marlowe Whitlock, cut in, lounging in her chair with her legs crossed. "We're all family here. Can't you get Elsie to stop crying? She's making such a scene."

I scoffed. "Funny how you never have anything to say when Milo makes a complete mess at the dinner table. What, does he get a free pass because he's your kid?"

Marlowe looked me up and down, her eyes full of contempt. "Enough already! Popeyes is more your speed anyway. Now, get going. You're just getting in the servers' way."

I almost laughed at her audacity. Marlowe brought her son over to our house for free meals practically every day, helping herself to the expensive fruit and premium milk I bought for Elsie without a second thought.

And whenever Milo came over, he would tear through Elsie's toys, picture books, and dolls. Anything he liked, he would stuff into his bag and take home.

Marlowe was always quick to praise Elsie whenever she wanted something from us, calling her a sweet, thoughtful young girl.

Yet now, despite there being three empty chairs in the private dining room, she expected me to take my daughter somewhere else for fast food. I wasn't about to put up with that.

I walked straight over to the empty chairs, pulled one out, and lifted Elsie onto it. Then I pulled out the chair beside her and sat down.

"We're not going anywhere," I said calmly. "We're eating right here."

Karen slammed her fork onto the table.

"Trent Quinn! What do you think you're doing?" she snapped, glaring at me. "It's my 60th birthday! Are you deliberately trying to ruin it?"

I ignored her. Instead, I poured Elsie a glass of orange juice and straightened her plate and silverware.