Violet Ross heard that sound, and every muscle in her body locked in place.
"Honey, this little brat is probably mute, right? One look and you can tell he's just as dim as that ugly wife of yours. Once I give you a son of our own, he'll be a hundred times smarter and cuter than this one." The mistress's voice slithered through the phone speaker, dripping with mockery and lazy cruelty, the kind that came easily to someone who had never faced a consequence in her life.
Then the woman must have done something to the child, because Violet's baby erupted into a raw, terrified wail that buried itself in her chest like a fishhook.
Violet's entire body went rigid. Tears broke free without warning, streaming down her cheeks until the hospital corridor became nothing but smeared light. The streng
