“Let him say goodbye,” she said. “The notary will be here soon.”
“The doctor’s already been clear,” Ryan replied. “I’m not going to keep paying to maintain an empty body.”
An empty body.
A surge of rage exploded inside me so strong I thought I might wake up screaming.
“My mom’s coming back,” Ethan said, his voice breaking.
Ryan let out a dry chuckle.
“Your mom is gone, champ.”
Claire stepped closer. I felt her fingers adjusting my hair.
“Even unconscious, she loves playing the victim.”
Then her voice dropped.
“When Emily dies, we take the boy out of the country. The paperwork in Chicago is already arranged.”
Ethan stepped back.
“You’re taking me away?”
“Somewhere you won’t ask questions,” Ryan said.
“I want to stay with my mom!”
“Your mom doesn’t decide anything anymore.”
“Yes, she does! She told me if something ever happened, I should call Ms. Parker!”
Silence crashed into the room.
Ms. Parker.
My lawyer.
The only person who knew that two weeks earlier, I had changed my will.
Ryan locked the door.
“What lawyer, Ethan?”
Claire’s hand froze.
“That kid heard too much.”
And then it happened.
One finger.
Just one.
It moved.
Ethan saw it. His eyes widened, but he said nothing. He leaned close and whispered:
“Mom, don’t move. I already called for help.”
“What did you say?” Ryan snapped.
“I said I love her.”
Claire reached into her purse.
“The notary’s downstairs.”
Ryan grabbed my hand tightly.
“You’re signing those papers, Emily. Alive or dead.”
But I wasn’t dying anymore.
I was waiting.
Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
“That must be the notary,” Claire said.
The door opened.
But the voice that entered wasn’t a notary’s.
“Good evening, Ryan. Before you go anywhere near Emily again, you’re going to explain why her brakes were cut.”
No one breathed.
And I realized—
the worst was just beginning.
