“The fact that you turned him in destroyed us!” I practically shout, jumping to my feet. “You took away my father from me.”
This entire time, it was her.
Yes, I know my father made some terrible decisions.
Yes, I know he was no he
ro.
Yes, I realize that he didn’t take his marriage vows seriously.
But he cheated on her.
My dad had never cheated on me.
And I lost him that day.
He didn’t just go to jail. He didn’t just get taken away. He went away forever. The court battle took months and once my dad was moved to a different prison, he fell apart. He was murdered because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then I didn’t have him.
I didn’t get to know my dad because he made a bad choice, but in my mind, my mother’s choice was far worse.
My dad was a sinner, but my mother?
She was a traitor.
I stand up and leave the sitting room. I move through the empty hallway and out the front door. My mother doesn’t follow me at all. She doesn’t even call after me. I get outside, slip in the car, and start the engine. I drive away and glance back in my rearview mirror.
I see her standing in the living room, peering out of the curtains, for just a second, and then she’s gone.
Maybe it was my imagination.
Chapter 10
Emilia
I MANAGE TO MAKE IT through a day without having my phone, but I’m going to need it sooner, rather than later. I roll around on the bed, groaning with annoyance and frustration. I’m being an idiot. I need to talk to him, but I don’t want to.
Why can’t life just be simple again?
Why can’t they be easy?
There’s a knock at my door.
“Who is it?”
“Adalee. Let me in.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have called out, but like a dumb-dumb, I did, and now I have to face her. Somehow, I propel myself out of the bed and go to the door. When it swings open, she gasps.
“Woah, you look like shit.”
“Thanks.”
“I don’t mean that to be offensive,” she pushes past me and comes into the room. She’s carrying some bags, but I don’t really want to know what’s inside of them.
“Well, it kind of is.”