Chapter 58: Mary

I grip the leather-wrapped steering wheel of my SUV so tightly my manicured nails dig into the material. Outside my tinted windshield, the glass doors of St. Jude Academy swing shut. I watch my daughter, Chloe, disappear inside the building, her small plaid skirt vanishing into the crowd of children. She doesn't look back at me. She hasn't looked back at me all morning because she knows exactly what kind of mood I am in.

The air conditioning hums inside the sealed cabin of my car, but the cool air does nothing to stop the burning heat crawling up my neck. I am suffocating in my own...