Chapter 6

Enoch was pinned to the ground, his face pressed into the wet dirt. A heavy combat boot rested firmly between his shoulder blades.

"Wait! Wait!" Enoch choked out, spitting mud from his mouth. "You can't do this! I saved her!"

Silas paused. He turned around, still holding Clare tightly in his arms. He nodded once to the guard. The guard eased the pressure on Enoch's back just enough to let him breathe.

Enoch reached into his jacket with trembling, bandaged fingers. He pulled out a folded, crumpled piece of paper. It was stained with grease and dirt.

"I have papers!" Enoch yelled desperately. "Legal papers! I adopted her! She was a stray, eating out of garbage cans! I gave her a home!"

Genevieve stood next to Silas. She stared at the dirty paper in Enoch's hand. Her entire body shook with rage. She looked like she wanted to tear his throat out with her bare hands.

A man in a sharp gray suit stepped out from behind the SUVs. He was the Barrett family's lead attorney. He walked over to Enoch and snatched the paper from his hand.

The lawyer adjusted his glasses. He scanned the document for exactly three seconds.

He let out a short, dry laugh. "This is a generic form printed off the internet. The signature is forged, there is no notary stamp, and it hasn't been filed with any state or federal agency. It's worthless."

Enoch's face turned purple. "She's a liar and a thief!" he screamed, pointing a bandaged finger at Clare. "She's ungrateful! I fed her! You owe me! I want ten years of child support and damages for what she did to my hands!"

Kayleigh, still clutching her stomach on the ground, nodded frantically. "She's a spoiled little brat! She deserves everything she got!"

Silas handed Clare to Genevieve. He took a slow step toward Enoch. His hands curled into tight fists. The knuckles turned stark white.

"Stop," a small voice rang out.

Everyone froze.

Clare looked down at Enoch from Genevieve's arms. Her voice was quiet, but it cut through the tension like a knife.

"He didn't feed me," Clare said clearly. She looked at Silas. "He made me sleep in the woodshed. He beat me with a leather whip every day if I didn't chop enough wood."

She pointed her small finger at Enoch's burned hands. "He tried to hit me. The sky got angry. The sky... burned him."

"You lying little bitch!" Enoch roared, struggling against the guard's boot.

Clare reached up and pulled down the collar of her ruined shirt. She pushed up the sleeves.

She exposed her arms and her upper chest. The skin was a horrific canvas of overlapping scars. There were thick, raised welts from the whip. There were perfectly round, pink burn marks from cigarettes.

Genevieve gasped. She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with horror. A fresh wave of tears spilled down her cheeks.

Silas stared at the scars. The last thread of his restraint snapped.

He lunged forward. He grabbed Enoch by the collar of his shirt, hauling him halfway off the ground. Silas pulled his arm back and drove his fist directly into Enoch's face.

A loud crack echoed in the yard. Enoch's nose shattered. Blood sprayed across the mud. Enoch collapsed, groaning in agony.

Kayleigh tried to crawl away. The female guard stepped on the back of her knee, pinning her to the ground.

Clare asked Genevieve to put her down. Genevieve hesitated, but gently set her on her feet.

Clare walked over to the lawyer. She took the fake adoption paper from his hand. She walked over to where Enoch lay bleeding in the mud.

She looked down at him. She slowly ripped the paper in half. Then she ripped it again, and again, until it was nothing but tiny shreds.

She opened her hand. The pieces of paper fluttered down like dirty snow, landing on Enoch's blood-covered face.

"This isn't the end," Clare whispered to him. "This is just the beginning of your hell."

Tabitha was kneeling in the mud, rocking Gus back and forth. She looked at Clare and started to beg. "Please! We have a child! Have mercy!"

Clare turned her gaze to Gus.

Gus saw her looking at him. He shrieked, throwing his hands over his head, terrified she was going to crush his mind again. He curled into a tight ball, sobbing hysterically.

The Pruitt family finally realized the truth. The Barrett family's money and guns were terrifying, but the little girl was the real monster.

Silas turned to his lawyer. "Drain them. Freeze every account, seize the land, call in every favor. I want them to have absolutely nothing by tomorrow morning."

The lawyer pulled out a tablet. His fingers flew across the screen. "Done, sir. Their bank accounts are currently at zero."

Clare turned around. She walked back toward the warm, idling SUV. She didn't look back at the Pruitts again.