Chapter 3

That night, I sat in the wrecked living room with the mess still spread across the floor.

George sat on the couch. Miriam sat at the dining table.

At first light, I stood up.

"The divorce lawyer I hired will come this afternoon."

I walked to the kitchen and poured out every drop of the hot chocolate he'd made the day before, straight into the sink.

"Those years, the people who tormented me. Did you pay them to do it?"

George's hand froze mid-pour, and water spilled across the counter.

"Yes. But when I gave them the money, I made it clear. They could freeze you out, that's all. They were never supposed to lay a hand on you!"

I laughed.

Ink poured over my clothes, my things thrown into the toilet. That was what he called not laying a hand on me.

I thought about that winter.

I'd been locked in the equipment room.

When I was half-conscious from the cold, it was George who smashed the lock open.

"The day you broke that lock, you were already standing right outside, weren't you?"

His throat worked.

"I was nearby the whole time. Those few changed their minds at the last minute. They didn't do what I told them to."

"I ran to get tools, and because of that you were stuck freezing in there two extra hours."

"And when someone shoved you down the stairs, I was the one who carried you to the hospital! I made sure those people got what they deserved!"

"Odie, I never wanted you to get hurt!"

He set the fire himself, put it out himself, and still wanted me grateful to him.

The sliding door slid open. Miriam stood in the doorway.

"You paid people to bully her, back then?!"

The night I was locked in the equipment room, Miriam had actually climbed over the wall to sit with me.

The next day she beat up the girl who'd led it. The scar from where her knee split open is still there now.

Miriam, who once fought like her life depended on it just because someone insulted me.

And now she took a share of my love without a flicker of guilt.

I ignored her shock and kept my eyes on George.

"This one I'll let go."

I yanked open a drawer and slammed a box of prenatal medication down in front of him.

"What about this? Did you swap this out on me?"

The color drained from his face.

"The doctor told me quietly. Your body was never fit to carry a pregnancy to term!"

"But I knew how badly you wanted a child. I couldn't bring myself to tell you to your face!"

I looked at him, cold.

"So you switched my medication?"

He shot to his feet.

"I only wanted the embryo to stop developing on its own!"

"How was I supposed to know it would trigger a hemorrhage? I never imagined they'd have to take out your uterus!"

I pressed in, step by step.

"You were afraid that if I had the baby, there'd be even less chance of you being with Miriam. Isn't that right?"

George couldn't get out a single word in his defense.

Beside him, Miriam's face changed too. Eyes red, she came to pull at me.

"Odie, I swear, I didn't know he'd go to such extremes. I thought—"

I sneered and dodged her hand.

"Don't touch me, Miriam. How much longer are you going to keep up the act?"

I took out a voice recorder and pressed play.

It was Miriam's voice, laced with deliberate hurt and testing:

"George, Odie's pregnant. What are we going to do now? I don't want to be the one who breaks up someone's family."

"If she has the baby, I really won't be able to face her. Maybe we should just forget it."

Then came George's voice, urgent:

"That won't happen, Miri. Trust me. I'll take care of it cleanly."

When the recording ended, George stood frozen where he was.

Miriam's tears fell. She turned to look at him.

"Let's spend some time apart first. We all need to cool down."

Hearing that, George seized her wrist hard.

"You promised me yesterday! You said you'd never leave me on my own again!"

I watched the two of them and calmly slid the diamond ring off my finger.

I dropped it into the trash can beside me.