He had installed new security cameras around our house.

I had thought he was just being an overprotective father.

“He found me in the parking lot,” Rose said. “He gave me that money and told me if I ever came back, he would tell the police I was stalking her.”

“This is hush money,” I said, tears finally spilling over my eyelashes.

“It was,” Rose said. “I took it because I was desperate. My mother was sick, and the medical bills were burying me.”

I stared at the signature on the wire transfer.

It was Richard’s signature, bold and sharp.

“He lied to me about everything,” I said.

“There is more, Evelyn,” Rose said.

“How could there be more?” I asked, wiping my face with the back of my hand.

“He didn’t just find me through an agency,” Rose said.

“What do you mean?”

“The agency didn’t exist,” Rose said. “The whole thing was a setup from the start.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said, though my stomach was twisting into knots.

“I have something I need to show you,” Rose said. “I couldn’t bring myself to show you at the diner.”