Chapter 4

I stood in the freezing wind, the phone pressed against my ear, listening to that relentless beeping.

Grandma curled tighter into a ball in her wheelchair. She mumbled weakly, "Daisy, Grandma's cold..."

This time, she remembered my name.

I dropped my phone on the pavement, dropped to my knees in front of her, and pulled her entire trembling body into my arms.

"You're not cold, Grandma. Daisy is right here. Daisy's got you."

I held her while desperately waving my hand at the empty street.

Finally, a taxi pulled over.

I practically carried Grandma into the backseat and yelled at the driver, "Nearest ER! Hurry!"

At one in the morning, they wheeled Grandma into a hospital room.

The doctor threw a bunch of clinical terms at me. Recurrent senior pneumonia. Hypothermia. Accelerated cognitive decline caused by insufficient cerebral blood flow.

He finally looked at me and took off his glasses.

"Ma'am, to be completely honest, the drastic change in environment and sheer lack of care over the past three months caused irreversible damage to her cognitive functions."

"What does that mean?"

"Her moments of lucidity will become shorter and rarer. Eventually, she might not recognize her family at all."

I stood in the glaring hallway, my back pressed against the freezing tile wall.

She might never recognize me again.

My only living relative. The only person in this world who loved me unconditionally.

From now on, she would look into my eyes and see nothing but a stranger.

Three months ago, when I visited her at her old facility, she held my hand and rambled affectionately. 'Daisy got so skinny. Eat more. Grandma saved some dried persimmons for you.'

Now, the grandmother who saved persimmons for me was dead.

Murdered by Chase Whitmore.

He didn't use a knife. No blood was spilled.

But she was dead.

Dead on that iron bed frame that cost fifteen hundred dollars a month. Dead in that bleach-scented room. Dead for the seventy-five hundred dollars he pocketed every month to drape jewels over another woman.

I stood in that hospital corridor for a very long time.

Then, I pushed open the door to her room and walked straight to her bedside.

She fell asleep. Her breathing was painfully shallow, her lips cracked and dry.

I leaned down and pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to her forehead.

"Grandma, I'm taking you away. We're leaving this city."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Opened the airline app.

Two one-way tickets to Savannah. Tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock.

Then I made another call. "Hello, I need to consult about admission procedures for out-of-state assisted living facilities."

After hanging up, I dialed my lawyer, Rachel.

"Rachel, he signed the divorce agreement. Submit the paperwork first thing tomorrow morning. Yes, file it unilaterally. He doesn't need to be present. I have all the materials ready on my end."

"Also, what's the status of the deed transfer for the Brooklyn apartment?"

"It's already finalized? Perfect."

I glanced at my phone screen.

Two-fifteen in the morning.

Chase's profile picture sat quietly in my contacts list.

I pressed down on it and hit delete.

"Confirm delete this contact?"

Confirm.