“I’ve decided to divorce Eric. I moved out today.”
I took a deep breath and said it out loud.
And just like I expected. Margaret’s voice exploded through the phone.
“Divorce?! Are you serious?!”
“You should be grateful we even let you marry into the Johnson family!”
“Eric hasn’t said a word about divorce and now YOU want to walk out?”
I didn’t bother arguing.
I hung up mid–rant.
She called me thirty–six more times that night.
Ignored them all.
Back when my family went bankrupt, she did everything she could to stop the wedding.
When we insisted, she finally agreed-
but made me kneel outside their house for three days straight.
I was so in love with Eric, I agreed without a second thought.
After we got married, she never once treated me like family.
Always found something to pick at.
Even after I gave birth to two girls, I was still “not good enough.”
Said I only married into their family to “climb the ladder.”
That without Eric, I’d be just another washed–up rich girl with nothing.
The next morning, I went to bury Sophia and Natalie.
While I was at the cemetery, Margaret called again.
I didn’t answer.
Afterwards, I went to the amusement park and sat there the whole day.
During that time, Eric called fifty times.
22:12
Chapter &
I didn’t block him.
Didn’t pick up either.
Just let it ring.
A few days ago, when I held Natalie’s dying body, I called him nonstop too.
He didn’t answer then either.
What goes around, comes around.
By nightfall, I headed back to my rental.
As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I saw him-
Eric.
Sitting on the floor outside my apartment, hugging his knees like a lost kid.
Margaret was there too, leaning against the wall.
The moment she saw me, she stormed over, shouting at the top of her lungs.
“Emily! We called you so many times!”
“You think you can just ignore us?!”
“You killed my grandbabies and now you’re hiding?”
“You heartless bitch! Give me back my girls!”
I could take anything she threw at me.
But blaming me for their deaths?
That crossed a line,
“If your son hadn’t left them alone on the side of the road, they’d still be alive!”
“The one who killed them–was your son, not me!” I pointed straight at Eric.
“Bullshit!”
Margaret was fuming.
“You always picked them up from school!”
“Why didn’t you do it that day, huh?!”
“You planned this, didn’t you?! You let it happen!”
22:12
Chapter S
I snapped.
How could someone twist the truth like this?
I turned to Eric.
“Is that what you told her?”
22:12
