Chapter 6 - The Epiphany of Guilt
The woman froze. The angry scowl melted instantly from her features, replaced by a sudden, violent wave of realization. Her hand, which had been gripping Thomas’s shoulder, went slack and rose slowly to her chest. Her mouth parted in a silent, horrified gasp.
The glossy magazine image of her perfect family life—the immaculate house, the wealthy benefactor husband, the quiet dinners—shattered into dust. She looked at the bruised boy, then down at her son, and the terrible architecture of her marriage finally laid itself bare before her eyes. The bruises her husband claimed were from "accidental falls at the office," the late nights, the sudden disappearances of the neighborhood boy who lived down the street in the shadow of an alcoholic father—it all connected in a single, agonizing flash of truth.
