Chapter 10 - THE UGLIEST LIE"Tell her."
Mom stared at Lauren.
"I never told you to hit that child."
Lauren raised her phone.
"You said Claire needed a wake-up call."
"About boundaries."
"Same thing."
"No."
Mom's voice shook.
"Not the same thing."
Lauren's face twisted.
"You said Claire was raising Emma to be impossible."
"I said she was too protective."
"And you said somebody needed to toughen her up."
"I never told you to strike her."
Dad stepped onto the porch.
Lauren froze.
He held up the printed messages.
"Tell me exactly what you've done for this family, Lauren."
She stared at him.
"You went through my room?"
"It's my house."
Lauren lunged toward him.
James stepped between them.
He didn't touch her.
He simply said:
"Back up."
She stopped.
Dad looked at her.
"No one is afraid of James."
He paused.
"We're ashamed of you."
Lauren's face went pale.
She got into her car and drove away.
We thought that was the end.
It wasn't.
The next morning, a deputy arrived.
Lauren had filed for a temporary protective order against James.
She claimed he had threatened her twice.
The second incident?
The driveway.
She had video.
But the video had been edited.
It began with James saying:
May you like
"Back up."
Everything before that had been cut.
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