Page 84 of The Amendment

Things were really good now.

I didn’t know why I hadn’t seen that possibility before.

I’d made horrible choices, ones I’d have to live with forever.

But as long as I had my kids, I could live with whatever came my way. Of that, more than anything else, I was sure.

In my pocket, my phone buzzed.

I pulled it out, staring at a text message on the screen. A lump formed in my chest.

No.

“Who is it?” Maisy asked, spying my hesitation.

I flashed her a smile and opened the text, staring at a picture I couldn’t quite make out. I zoomed in closer.

It was a blueprint, from what I could tell, but I was only looking at a small section of it. Something that had been circled.

Underneath it, a scrawled note made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

“What is it?” Maisy asked again, more forcefully this time. “You okay?”

I was no longer listening to her, instead focusing all my energy on the message written in handwriting I would’ve recognized anywhere.

Finally, I understood what I was staring at. He’d circled a space along the wall in the hidden room that readEmergency Exit (Hidden).

I stopped breathing, a chill sweeping through me. I read over his message twice.

No.

No.

No.

No.

NoNoNoNoNoNoNo.

It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t.

And yet it was real.

His message was simple, yet abundantly clear.

I’d lost.

The plan had failed.

I read it once more, feeling as if I were going to be sick.

Sorry, honey.

We’re in this together,remember?

After all, rules are rules.

Guess I had just one more secret.

How’s that for full circle?