Chapter 2 - THE ROAD TO MILLER’S RIDGE
Ryan did not knock.
He waited outside.
Madison remained beside the SUV, sunglasses on despite the cloudy afternoon.
Emily stepped onto the porch.
“What do you want?”
Ryan looked at her stomach before meeting her eyes.
“We need to talk.”
“You know my number.”
“You stopped answering.”
“That happens when someone leaves his pregnant wife for another woman.”
Madison smiled.
“There it is.”
Emily looked at her.
“What?”
“The victim performance.”
Ryan sighed.
“Madison.”
“No. She should hear it.”
Madison walked closer.
“You’ve been telling everyone Ryan abandoned you.”
“He did.”
“You moved out first.”
“After I found you in my bed.”
Madison’s smile tightened.
“Your marriage was over long before me.”
Emily looked at Ryan.
He said nothing.
That hurt less than it once had.
Ryan held out a folder.
“Sign this.”
Emily did not take it.
“What is it?”
“Property settlement.”
“For the farmhouse?”
“For everything.”
“You already tried forging my signature. Why do you need the real one?”
Ryan’s face changed.
Madison answered.
“That accusation again.”
Emily looked at her.
“You seem nervous.”
“I’m bored.”
Madison stepped closer.
“You have no evidence Ryan forged anything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because litigation is expensive.”
Emily almost admired the answer.
Madison was cruel, but she was not stupid.
Ryan said, “Emily, the development project is already financed.”
“With my land.”
“With land the bank believes is part of our marital estate.”
“It was inherited.”
“That’s disputed.”
Emily stared at him.
“You know Grandma left this to me.”
“I know what she told you.”
Ryan placed the folder on the porch rail.
“Sign. The lien disappears. You keep the house and ten acres.”
“And you take?”
“The southern tract.”
Emily laughed.
The southern tract was precisely what Arthur had warned her about.
“Why do you want it so badly?”
Madison answered.
“Because it connects two parcels Blake Development already owns.”
“That’s worth $1.8 million?”
“Potentially.”
Emily studied her.
Madison had answered too quickly.
Ryan said, “Take the deal.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’re going to lose everything.”
“Maybe.”
Emily stepped backward.
“But not today.”
She shut the door.
Through the window, she watched them return to the SUV.
Madison was angry.
Ryan looked worried.
That night, Emily opened the winter room.
She pulled up the old rug.
Nothing.
She examined the floorboards.
One plank near the fireplace had newer nails.
Emily pried it loose.
Beneath it was a narrow metal box.
Inside were old photographs, deeds, letters, and a small object wrapped carefully in white cloth.
Emily lifted it.
Heavy.
Her phone rang.
Ryan.
She ignored it.
Then a message appeared.
WE’RE COMING BACK TOMORROW. LAST CHANCE.
Emily looked at the cloth-covered object.
For the first time in months, she smiled.
The next afternoon she walked toward Arthur’s office carrying firewood from a neighbor’s property.
She heard an engine behind her.
The black SUV accelerated.
Then swerved directly across her path.
Brakes screamed.
Emily recoiled, clutching her pregnant belly.
The doors opened.
Ryan stepped out.
Madison followed.
Madison looked at Emily’s dirty dress.
The firewood.
Her swollen stomach.
May you like
Then she burst out laughing.
“THIS was your type?”
