Guilt was a heavy burden.
Ever since fleeing to Susanna's apartment, Darleen and Xenia had lived in constant terror, waiting for the other shoe to drop. They knew how deeply Starla hated Darleen, and they were terrified she hadn't finished her revenge.
Now, staring at the police officers outside, the horrifying sins they had desperately tried to bury flooded their minds like waking nightmares.
They were petrified.
Darleen went deathly pale at the word *police*.
"What do we do, Mom? Are they here to arrest us?" Xenia sobbed, verging on a panic attack.
Darleen's mind raced. Her first instinct was that this was Starla's final play. She really wasn't going to let them go.
Trembling, Darleen turned to her husband. "Harley..."
"If they're here for you, remember your loyalty to this family. Don't go dragging anyone else down with you."
His voice was a lethal, quiet warning that cut her off before she could even plead.
Darleen stared at him, her heart plummeting into an icy abyss. She couldn't fathom how he could look at her with such sociopathic indifference.
*Don't drag anyone else down?*
Who else was there to drag down? He had masterminded the atrocities right alongside her. If she went down, he was the one she'd be taking with her. His warning was crystal clear: *Keep my name out of your mouth.*
"You are completely heartless," she whispered, suffocating on the pain.
He was abandoning her to the wolves.
"I gave you sons. I gave you daughters. And this is how you treat me?"
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