My mother-in-law pressed a pillow over my face while I lay helpless in a body cast, whispering that I should have died when I went over the balcony. She thought she was finishing what she'd started—but detectives were already listening, and what they uncovered afterward revealed I wasn't the first wife Ethan Morgan had nearly lost.

"HANDS IN THE AIR! DROP THE WEAPON!"

Bright tactical flashlights flooded the dark room, illuminating the shattered glass and the crying man cowering in the corner.

Emily didn't fight. She didn't raise the scalpel. She calmly dropped the blade onto the steel table, raised her thin, pale hands into the air, and let out a soft, peaceful sigh.

"He confessed," Emily said calmly, looking at Detective Mason through the glaring flashlight beams. "It's all on tape."

Ethan lay on the floor in his own sweat and tears, blubbering incoherently as officers dragged him to his feet and pinned him against the wall. His confession had been broadcast live to every monitor in the precinct, fully documented, immutable, and legally ironclad.

Two hours later, the medical team escorted Emily into a private room under police guard to treat her severe malnutrition and evaluate her physical state.

I sat in my hospital room three miles away, watching the breaking news broadcast on the overhead television.

"...In a shocking turn of events tonight, wealthy real estate mogul Ethan Morgan and his mother, Margaret Morgan, have been formally charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, kidnapping, corporate fraud, and conspiracy..."

The news anchor showed footage of Ethan being led out of the precinct in heavy chains, his face pale, his eyes completely hollow as reporters shouted questions at him.

Detective Mason walked into my room, looking exhausted, his suit jacket off, his tie loosened.

He sat down in the chair beside my bed and looked at me for a long, quiet moment.

"You knew, didn't you?" Mason asked softly.

I looked at him, my expression blank. "Knew what, Detective?"

"You knew Emily was going to the precinct," Mason said, leaning forward. "She didn't try to kill you in this room. She came here to make a deal with you."

I stared at the television screen, watching Ethan's pathetic face as he was pushed into the back of a police cruiser.

"Does it matter?" I asked softly, turning my head to look at Mason. "The monsters are in cages. My husband will spend the rest of his life in a maximum-security prison. And Emily is finally free."