telling than any words could have been. Evelyn Reed knew. She had

t. It rang again. I silenced it, my thumb pressing down on the scr

nd me seemed to have gone silent. The chirping of the crickets, the distant hum of city traffic, it all faded

nd perfect, popped up on the screen. The face I had been forced to beli

ced with impatience. The sound of a party, of laughter and clinking glasses, filled the background. "Don' t

oment, I couldn't breathe. She was celebrating. My son was lying de

said, my voic

you put Leo to bed? Honestly, that boy is

d with a familiar contempt. Co

ords tasting like ash in my mo

ief pause. I h

ne of his tricks to ruin our anniversary. I' m not fa

hung

' t just that she didn' t believe me. It was that she didn' t care enough to even

the patio, her face pale and etched with panic. Her eyes darted around until they landed

h. She rushed over, her movements frantic. She pulled back the towel.

his happen?" she cried, h

my voice cold. "She let him die. She thought

ad struck her. Guilt was

appen. It was just... Jessica was so heartbroken after Liam' s accident. When we found you, you looked so much

ebts, leaving Jessica pregnant and devastated. Finding me, a convenient amnesiac with a passing resemblance, was a 'miracle.' They saw a

"I' ll give you anything. Money. A house. Just... don' t g

helped orchestrate the destruction of m

he word a snarl. "You t

t on the bed. His box of crayons was open on his small desk, a half-finished drawing of a family-a mom, a dad, and a little boy-on the paper. I carefu

was still kneeling by the pool, weep

!" she call

the house of lies behind me. I got in my car and drov

mind. Finally, I pulled over and got out of the car. I

have come and gone. The house, however, was no longer quiet. The party music was off

ca an

. She was crying, but they weren't the tears of a grieving mother. They were the tears of a woman bein

ly a few hours, and she was already finding so

ld burn their perfect, fabricated world to the ground. I walked back to t

bsorbed in each other. I walked into the l

e pulled away from Liam, he

old you to handle the Leo situation. Did you call th

isten, man," he said, his tone condescending. "I know this is

straight at Jessica, m

gone, J

he phone. It' s a tragedy, it' s horrible, but it happened. Crying about it won' t bring him back

were discussing a broken appliance, not our dead son. The last embers of

as Noah Miller. And