Chapter 5
The phone slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
“Emily… Sophia and Natalie were in a car accident? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
His voice was cold, broken, full of something I hadn’t seen before–maybe guilt.
I let out a dry laugh, the kind that comes from a place too far gone.
“I didn’t tell you?”
“I called you dozens of times.”
“Did you pick up even once?”
“If you hadn’t dumped our daughters halfway to school, would they have gotten hit by that damn car?”
“Do you even know what it felt like, holding Natalie in my arms while she kept calling out for you?”
“She just wanted her dad… and you were too busy playing house with Vanessa.”
“You’re the reason she’s dead.
You’re the reason Sophia will never come home again.
You don’t deserve to call yourself their father.”
Eric dropped to the floor, like all the air had been sucked from his body.
“No.. no, that’s not true. My phone was on silent.”
“I didn’t hear it ring. If I had, I would’ve-”
“Bullshit.”
You’d have to be a damn sociopath to say something like that with a straight face.
Eric, the big–shot CEO of Johnson Financial, had his phone on silent… in the middle of the day?
Please.
I’d seen Vanessa’s Instagram post.
His phone was sitting right next to him on the table.
Even if it was on silent, the screen would’ve lit up.
But whatever. Doesn’t matter anymore. He can go to hell for all I care.
22:12
Chapter 5
I took off my jacket, dropped to my knees, and started gathering the ashes.
They were all mixed together now–Sophia’s and Natalie’s.
I couldn’t even tell whose was whose.
They’d been together in my belly.
Together when they died.
And now, together still.
Maybe that’s a sign.
Maybe it means they’ll find each other again in their next life.
I just hope they never meet a man like Eric again.
Eric sat there for a long time before finally crawling toward me.
“Emily… let me help you.”
Emily?
We’d been married for years, and besides our wedding night, he’d never called me that.
Back then, I’d have given anything to hear him say my name like that.
Now? It made me sick.
Before he could touch the ashes, I shoved him away hard.
“Don’t Touch. Them.”
“Emily, that’s not fair. I’m still their father.”
Vanessa’s voice came from behind him, as smug as ever.
I looked straight at her, then Eric.
“You need to get the hell out of my house.”
“Right now. Or I can’t promise I’ll stay calm.”
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
“Wh–what are you gonna do?”
I didn’t answer. I just went back to gathering what little I could of my daughters.
Eric finally muttered, “Vanessa… maybe you should go.”
22:12
Chapter S
She didn’t look happy, but she nodded.
“Fine. I’m leaving.”
22:12
