Chapter 5
The next three days were a blur.
I called in sick to work.
I told them I had a family emergency, which was the understatement of the century.
I spent the days making Emma pancakes for breakfast, building Lego castles with her, watching her favorite Disney movies on repeat.
I tried to be normal for her.
But every time the phone rang, I jumped.
Every time a car pulled into the driveway, my heart raced.
Michael texted me a hundred times.
I’m sorry.
I love you.
Let me see Emma.
We can fix this.
I blocked his number after the first day.
He showed up at the house twice.
I didn’t answer the door.
I watched through the living room curtains as he stood on the porch for twenty minutes, holding a stuffed unicorn he’d gotten Emma for Christmas, before he finally left.
On the fourth day, Diane showed up.
It was 10 a.m.
Emma was in the backyard, playing with her new chalk.
I was folding laundry when I heard the banging on the front door.
Loud. Insistent.
I walked to the door and looked through the peephole.
Diane was standing there, her hair perfectly done, her nails bright red, holding a leather tote bag that cost more than my car.
I unlocked the deadbolt but kept the chain on.
I opened the door an inch.
“What do you want, Diane?” I said.
She smiled, that cold, sharp smile I’d learned to hate.
“Good morning to you too, Claire,” she said. “I’ve come to get Michael’s things. And to talk.”
“Michael’s things are in the garage,” I said. “I boxed them up three days ago. You can have them. But we have nothing to talk about.”
I started to close the door.
She stuck her foot in the gap.
“Move your foot, Diane,” I said.
“Not until we talk,” she said. She pushed the door open harder, the chain digging into the wood. “This is ridiculous, Claire. You’re overreacting. So Michael made a mistake. Big deal. All men cheat. You should be grateful he’s even willing to stay with you after you embarrassed him in front of my entire family.”
I stared at her.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Grateful?” I said. “You helped him cheat on me with my sister for over a year. You helped him lie to me. You outed him in front of my eight-year-old daughter. And I’m supposed to be grateful?”
She laughed, stepping over the threshold. She’d pulled her foot back, and I’d been so shocked I’d forgotten to close the door.
She walked into my living room like she owned the place.
“Emma’s a big girl,” she said, looking around. “She’ll get over it. And Lila’s having a boy, Claire. A son. The grandson I’ve always wanted. Michael needs to be there for that. You’re being selfish keeping him away.”
“Selfish?” I said, following her. “You’re the one who destroyed my family so you could get the perfect heir you always wanted. Michael is Emma’s father. He doesn’t get to just leave her for a new baby and a new wife because you want him to.”
Diane turned to me, her smile gone.
“Michael was never supposed to marry you in the first place,” she said, her voice cold. “He was supposed to marry Lila. They were perfect for each other. But then you got pregnant with Emma, and you trapped him. You knew exactly what you were doing. You got yourself knocked up so you could marry into money, so you could have the nice house and the nice cars and the life you could never afford on your own.”
My blood ran cold.
I thought back to when I’d told Michael I was pregnant with Emma.
We’d been dating for eight months.
He’d been quiet for a long time after I told him.
Then he’d proposed.
I’d thought he was just nervous.
I’d thought he was happy.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“Am I?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Ask him. He’ll tell you. He only proposed because I told him he had to. That if he didn’t do the right thing by you and the baby, the whole family would be disgraced. But he never loved you, Claire. Not the way he loves Lila. You were always just a consolation prize.”
I felt dizzy.
I grabbed the back of the couch to steady myself.
All those years.
All those I love yous.
All those anniversaries, all those birthdays, all those nights we’d stayed up talking about our future.
Had any of it been real?
“Get out,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“Not until I get what I came for,” she said. She walked toward the stairs. “Michael’s grandmother’s ring is in the master bedroom. The one with the sapphire. I want it back. It’s a family heirloom. It doesn’t belong to a gold digger like you.”
She started up the stairs.
I snapped.
I ran after her, grabbing her arm and yanking her back before she could reach the top step.
She stumbled, catching herself on the banister.
“You touch me again,” she said, her face red with rage, “and I’ll call the police and tell them you assaulted me. I’ll make sure you never see Emma again. I’ll make sure everyone in this town knows what a crazy, unstable bitch you are.”
I leaned in close to her, so our faces were inches apart.
“Call the police,” I said. “I dare you. Because I’ll tell them exactly what you did. How you manipulated your own son into cheating on his wife. How you helped him cover it up for over a year. How you outed him in front of a child. And then I’ll sue you for every penny you have. Do you want that, Diane? Do you want everyone to know what a cruel, sadistic, miserable old woman you really are?”
She stared at me, her eyes wide.
No one had ever talked to her like that.
No one had ever dared.
“Now,” I said, releasing her arm. “Get the boxes from the garage, get off my property, and if you ever come near me or my daughter again, I will make you regret the day you were born. Do you understand me?”
Diane opened her mouth, then closed it.
She turned and walked down the stairs, her heels clicking loud against the hardwood.
She walked out the front door, slamming it so hard the pictures on the wall shook.
I slid down the wall next to the stairs, my legs giving out.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my mom.
She lives in Florida.
She picked up on the second ring.
“Claire, honey?” she said. “I haven’t heard from you in a week. Is everything okay?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.
I just cried.
“Claire?” my mom said, her voice sharp with worry. “Claire, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“Mom,” I sobbed. “Michael cheated on me. With Lila. For over a year. And Diane helped them. And Lila’s pregnant. And I don’t know what to do.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
Then my mom said, quiet and fierce, “Pack a bag for Emma. I’m getting in the car right now. I’ll be there in eighteen hours. Don’t let any of them in the house. Don’t answer the phone for anyone but me. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“I love you, baby,” she said. “And we’re gonna fix this. I promise you. No one hurts my girls and gets away with it.”
She hung up.
I sat there on the floor for a long time, until I heard Emma’s voice from the backyard.
“Mommy? Can I have some lemonade?”
I wiped my face, stood up, and forced a smile.
“Coming, baby,” I called.
I walked to the kitchen to get her lemonade, and for the first time in days, I felt a little less alone.
May you like
My mom was coming.
And with her here, I knew I could survive anything.
