Chapter 6: The Bet and the Decision

The banter inside grew louder and louder.

Through the thin office walls, I could hear them still laughing—making bets about my tears, about how far I’d go just to please Derek. It felt cruel, like I was on trial and everyone else held the verdict.

“Stop kidding, Emily without Derek wouldn’t even be able to speak. How could she really get a divorce certificate?”

The words cut, sharper than any knife. I pressed my hands to my ears, but the voices snuck in anyway.

“Right, if she really went to get divorced, she’d probably cry the county clerk’s office down.”

My cheeks burned, humiliation seeping into my bones. I wanted to disappear.

“Really?”

Derek sneered.

His voice dripped with contempt. It was the sound of someone who thinks they know you better than you know yourself.

He tossed his lighter onto the coffee table. “Even if she cries like a dog, she’ll still be my Emily.”

He grinned, the kind of smile that made my skin crawl.

“If I tell her to go east, she’ll crawl east, even if she has to.”

The room erupted in laughter again, as if he’d said something clever.

I stared blankly at the man who’d become a stranger, through the crack in the door.

The outline of his face was familiar, but the eyes were cold, calculating. I barely recognized him.

[Okay.]

The word was simple, but it felt like the first step out of a cage.