At fifty-two, my husband locked me out in a freezing blizzard because of his daughter’s deceit. Four hours later, the authorities called—and walking into my hospital room left him utterly broken.

Chloe Vance sat in the stark, concrete visitation room of the county jail, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit that clashed horribly with her expensive highlights.

Arthur sat across from her, separated by thick plexiglass. It was the first time he had seen her since the raid.

“Dad!” Chloe cried, picking up the phone receiver. She tried to force tears, but her eyes remained dry. “Thank God. You have to get me out of here. The food is disgusting, and my cellmate is a psychopath. Pay the bail.”

Arthur stared at the daughter he had ruined his marriage for. He looked at her through the glass, seeing her true face for the first time.

“Bail is set at two million dollars, Chloe,” Arthur said, his voice completely hollow. “Because you are a flight risk and facing attempted murder charges.”

“So sell the house!” she snapped, her mask slipping instantly. “Leverage the firm! You’re a millionaire, Dad! Get me a real lawyer, not this public defender idiot!”

“The firm is bankrupt,” Arthur replied. “You stole the operating capital. The bank is foreclosing on the house next month because you took out a second mortgage using forged documents. I have no money, Chloe. You took it all.”

Chloe stared at him, her mouth open in shock. “What? No, that’s impossible. I only took a little bit to pay off some guys I owed!”

“You took seven hundred thousand dollars in total. You ruined my business. And you tried to kill Eleanor.”

“She’s a bitch!” Chloe screamed, slamming her fist against the glass, startling the guards. “She was always telling me what to do! Trying to make me get a job! I just wanted her out of the way so we could have the money to ourselves!”

Arthur closed his eyes as a profound, crushing wave of despair washed over him. He had traded a loyal, loving wife for a sociopath.