A shocked look crosses Connor’s face before he starts bellowing in laughter. “Oh, this is too good. Do not tell me you fell for that scrawny excuse for a woman. hahahahahahahahaha,” he continues to laugh.

Anger roars into me but before I snap, Jared grabs my arm squeezing tight reminding me why I am here in the first place.

“Are you done?” I ask calmly, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, not even close. So tell me, if you’re not hear to rid yourself of”—he pauses—“the girl, what are you here for?”

“I know what you did to your daughter. How you abused her, beat her, slashed her stomach.”

“All lies. She always did have quiet the imagination.”

“She has scares,” I grit out.

“She was so clumsy. She got the one on her torso from falling off her bike. I took her to the hospital myself spent nine hours there while they stitched her up.” There is no fear in his voice as he recites a story he probably practiced telling a hundred times.

Connor Robinson is the worst kind of monster. Patient. Prepared. The kind of scum who is always eight steps ahead of justice. If I want to get any kind of information from this man, I would have to do so through shock. Surprise. Something he could not have prepared for.

“She’s gone.”

Connor’s eyes widen slightly at my blurted statement, before a mask of cool collectiveness covers his features.

“Well, we all knew it was coming, didn’t we? Of course, you couldn’t have thought it would happen so soon but having a baby was sure to take its toll, don’t you think?” He grins a vile grin. “It’s almost ironic. You killed your mother and inadvertently contributed to your wife’s death too.”

Death? Death! “What are you talking about?” I growl through clenched teeth.

He raises a confused eyebrow, before an evil glimmer shines in his eyes. “Her pregnancy, of course. I am sure it was an easy decision stopping all medical treatment to ensure the baby survives. Practically signed her death warrant with that little pink plus sign. Nobody would blame you, though. I’m sure after all it is the only way to end your contract.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Jared speaks up annoyed with the repetitiveness of Connor’s taunts. But I am not confused. In fact, things have never been clearer. It is like I was building a puzzle with no colors and suddenly a rainbow spilled on them. Always pale, tired, fainting, the hospital trips. How did I not see it before?