CHAPTER 114

ELENA

I stared at my childhood home like it was a foreign country.

I had no idea what I was going to find behind the front door. I had no idea if I’ll be welcome or not. Martin had always been a hero in my parents’ eyes. Hell, it was bad enough when they called and refused to believe anything I said.

Now I knew it was because Martin went to them before the police. He could speak to them, charm them, and convince them that his words were the undisputable truth. He would have played up the poor-me card, just like he used to whenever he made an excuse up for hitting me.

“But, babe, I’ve had a stressful day and I was expecting dinner when I walked in . . . You’re a woman. You should be able to boil potatoes right. It makes me angry when you make careless mistakes, you know that . . . You know we have company tonight. If you’d just cleaned the house, then I wouldn’t have gotten so mad . . .”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he said to my parents.

I swallowed hard, still staring at the