a black cardigan, a single strand of pearls, and white pumps.
“Emily!” Sandra seemed genuinely happy to see her, but not
surprised. “You’re just in time for dinner.”
Emily had no idea what that meant. She was caught off
guard, even though she promised herself that she’d be ready
for anything. When she stepped into the house and followed
her mom to the dining room, she saw the table was set for
three and her dad was already at the head of it. They were
expecting her. Because of what her dad did, they were so
certain she’d be back as soon as Dani closed up the store for
the day and delivered the news.
It made her blood boil that they’d just assumed they could
do this to her. To Dani. That they could so casually destroy
someone’s life and think nothing of it. Dad thinks he saved me.
It was apparent from the satisfied, not smug, look on his face.
He was dressed in a black dress shirt and black pants. He’d at
least stripped off his tie, so the room felt more like a dining
room and less like a black-tie formal affair.
Emily’s nails bit int her palms when she closed her hands
into tight fists. She wanted to scream at her parents that this
wasn’t normal. Eating dinner while dressed like they were
going to a freaking high society function wasn’t normal. It
wasn’t normal that they thought they could just buy someone
out of someone else’s life. That they could buy loyalty and
allegiance and obedience.
Emily didn’t want to think about how she herself had
thought she could buy Dani’s help when she’d set up the
whole agreement. She wasn’t trying to hurt Dani. She forced
herself to calm down and consider that maybe her parents
weren’t trying to hurt anyone either. Maybe they were just