My husband returned early from deployment to surprise me—only to walk in and find me eight months pregnant, cornered by his mother holding a burning iron, exposing a nightmare he never expected.

— cold, obedient, each one saying she preferred not to contact him so as not to be a distraction. Mariana looked at them and shook her head. She had never written those words.

Then Laura arrived, crying, carrying a bag of baby clothes. She showed messages sent from Mariana’s phone in which Mercedes had told her that Mariana needed to pull away from continue reading …