Chapter 11
That night, Jack’s friend called me.
“Hey, sis-in-law, Jack’s wasted and keeps calling your name. Can you come pick him up?”
“Not my problem. Call Zoe.” My voice was clipped. “And drop the sis-in-law, I’m single.”
I hung up without waiting for a response.
The screen flashed back to Instagram. My thumb hovered over Zoe’s latest post,
A pregnancy test. Positive.
“Dreams really do come true, hehe (#^.^#)”
Oh, Jack. You never learn.
With a sigh, I clicked on her profile and deleted her. Then I deleted Jack too.
And just like that, I wiped them both from my life.
From then on, I threw myself into work.
Finn never held back on praise, and while his compliments sometimes made me self-conscious, they also gave me a sense of real accomplishment.
I was thriving. My life was finally on track.
I honestly thought I’d never cross paths with my past again.
But two weeks later, Jack’s father called.
My former mother-in-law was in the hospital.
I rushed over, only to learn the full story, Jack, drunk out of his mind, had beaten Zoe so badly she miscarried.
Zoe, not one to go down quietly, called the cops. Jack was in jail.
The shock had sent Mrs. Sullivan’s blood pressure through the roof. She collapsed.
Luckily, they managed to stabilize her, and she woke up not long after I arrived.
The moment she saw me, she clutched my hand, tears streaming down her face.
“What do I do, Emily? What do I do?” she sobbed. “Everything’s a mess. Your father-in-law and I are getting old… can’t we just have some peace?”
Mr. Sullivan, standing at the foot of the bed, let out a bitter laugh before smashing a cup against the floor.
“Peace?” he scoffed. “As far as I’m concerned, we should just consider him dead and adopt another kid.”
No one took him seriously.
I stayed with Mrs. Sullivan until she drifted off to sleep, then quietly stepped out.
At the nurse’s station, I asked for Zoe’s room number.
I had something to say to her.
Zoe tensed the second she saw me, her face full of suspicion.
“What are you doing here? Come to gloat?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Pretty much. Just figured I’d return the favor.”
Her expression darkened.
I took a step closer, lowering my voice just enough.
“You’re still young. There’ll be other kids.”
I watched with satisfaction as her already pale face turned ghostly white.
Her hands clenched the hospital sheets. “If you’re done, get out.”
But I wasn’t done.
“Actually, there’s something I don’t get.” I tilted my head. “If you love Jack so much, why’d you send him to jail?”
Zoe’s entire body stiffened. Then, almost in a scream, she spat, “He hurt me first! The doctor said I can never have kids again!”
That caught me off guard.
I hadn’t expected things to be that bad.
Her whole frame shook as she wrapped her arms around herself, looking small and broken.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“He was the one who said he loved me, not you. He told me marrying you was just a business deal. But whenever he gets drunk, he hits me. Says I ruined his marriage. Says I killed his baby.”
She lifted her head, her eyes hollow.
“But tell me, how is that my fault? He’s the one who cheated. He’s the one who destroyed everything.”
I shook my head. “If you had the decency to stay out of it, told him to divorce me first, maybe you wouldn’t have ended up here.”
Zoe’s eyes flickered, guilt flashing across her face before she quickly looked away.
I stood up, my voice calm but cutting.
“In the end, you and Jack are exactly the same. Neither of you ever take responsibility for your own mistakes.”
With that, I turned and walked out, never looking back.
Behind me, her voice cracked.
“I’m not… I didn’t… You’re wrong!”
Then came the quiet, muffled sobs.
