Their cruelty, their perfect coordination, made me realize this wasn’t a spontaneous outburst. It was a play they had been preparing for a long time.

“Ethan, calm down,” I pleaded, trying to cling to a faint thread of hope. “Let’s talk.”

He lunged at me, grabbed my hair, and yanked my head back, dragging me toward the front door. “Talk? I have nothing more to talk to you about. You’re useless to me now.”

“Open the door, Mom!” Ethan yelled, and Carol rushed to pull it wide open. A biting wind swept into the apartment, chilling my skin.

“Ethan, please, the neighbors will see,” I begged.

He laughed cruelly. “Let them see what you’re really like.”

Then, with all his might, he ripped the thin nightgown from my body. The sound of the tearing fabric was sharp and final. I screamed in horror and humiliation, trying to cover myself, but it was too late. Chloe had her phone raised, the camera shutter clicking over and over.