“He kept me off balance for so long,” Lily said. “I was so confused about what he was really like. He would tell me he was one way, but he would behave another. He'd tell me he loved me—but he acted as if he hated me. It took me over two years to realize that I had to pay attention to what he did—not what he said.”

Lindsey nodded. “Edward is a textbook case. He's controlling, manipulative, feels fully entitled, and massively disrespectful. He really believed he owned you, Lily. Once you married him, you became his. His outrage over your escape, your seeing him for who he really is, will fuel him now.”

“Fuel him?” Lily asked.

“Any attempt you make to stand up for your rights he'll take as an act of aggression against him. And Edward's propensity to see you as his personal property will no doubt extend to Rose,” Lindsey said. “What was his reaction when you first told him you were pregnant?”

“When I told him,” she said, “he threw a lamp against the door. He kicked a hole in the wall. I never saw him so violent. He said, ‘Don't I have any say in this?' His eyes went blank, the way they always did when he raged.”

“Lily,” Liam said, taking her hand.

“Was that when you decided to leave him?” Lindsey asked.

“Almost,” she said, not wanting to remember.

“What happened, Lily?”

Lily closed her eyes. “Once his anger passed, he put his arms around me, rocked me, told me that everything would be different. I thought, Maybe this will be the turning point. Maybe he'll finally ‘get it.' He told me he had made a picnic for us.”

She opened her eyes, watching Lindsey as she took notes.

“We got into the car, went for a drive. It was late fall, and most of the leaves were off the trees. But it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day. When Edward was good, he was really fun. He put in a CD, and he held my hand. I felt so turned around—I just wanted to believe that we could make it work. I thought maybe a baby would make everything different.”

Lindsey nodded.

“We drove north, up into Massachusetts. Edward had been born in Springfield, and he said he always felt happiest, rejuvenated, when he went to back to his home state. In spite of his bad childhood, his favorite teacher and aunts lived up there. I thought maybe we were going to visit his family.”

“But you weren't?”