Chapter 2: The Gift Bag With the Pink Ribbon
Part 2 ⬇️
Everyone at the table was staring at me.
Michael grabbed his phone fast — too fast.
He flipped it face down before I could move.
"It's nothing," he said.
"Wrong number."
But I had already seen it.
Her name.
My sister's name.
On his screen.
"Wrong number?" I said.
"That's Lauren's name, Michael."
He didn't answer.
He just stood there, jaw tight, eyes on his mother.
Diane crossed her arms and smiled.
That smile made my skin crawl.
"Tell her," she said again.
Quieter this time.
Almost satisfied.
"Mom.
Stop." Michael's voice cracked.
I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
And I saw it — not anger, not confusion.
Guilt.
"How long?" I asked.
The room was completely still.
His sister Karen suddenly pushed back her chair and walked out.
No explanation.
No eye contact.
That's when I noticed something on the counter behind Diane.
A gift bag.
Pink ribbon.
The same bag I had given Lauren for her birthday last month.
The one I had put a card inside that said: *I'm so glad I can trust you.*
My hands started shaking.
Michael finally opened his mouth — but what came out wasn't an apology.
It was a question that told me everything I didn't want to know.
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What Michael said next — and what was really inside that bag — is in the full story.
Click the link below to read everything.
May you like
The truth is harder than you think.
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