Another pause.

“Claire,” Richard said, his voice dropping to a softer, gentler tone. “You are my daughter. Everything I did, I did to give you a life. A real life.”

“You stole me,” Claire said, tears finally spilling over her eyelashes.

“I saved you,” Richard said. “Look at her, Claire. Look at the woman driving that car. Is that the life you wanted?”

Rose flinched, but she kept her eyes locked on the road ahead.

“Don’t listen to him,” I told Claire.

“Evelyn, pull over,” Richard said, his voice losing its warmth. “If you do this, you ruin everything. The house, the money, our family. It all goes away.”

“I don’t care,” I said.

“Think about the scandal,” he said. “The town. The newspapers. They will tear us apart.”

“You did this, Richard,” I said. “Not us.”

“I am giving you one last chance to turn around,” Richard said.

“No,” I said.

I hung up the phone.

The SUV suddenly accelerated, pulling ahead of us and then cutting sharply into our lane.

Rose slammed on the brakes.

The tires shrieked on the cold asphalt.