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I look at the hard grip on my arm and my eyes travel up to see Jeremy looking disheveled as he rushes us both up the stairs. He is too quick, and I trip, but he yanks my arm hard, pulling me to standing as I wince in pain.
“Stop…” I say weakly. My head is spinning, and I try to grab on to any memory I have of what is happening. I look down at my clothes and remember I was having lunch with Ben’s mother…
“Get inside,” Jeremy seethes, opening the door to my apartment and shoving me in. We startle George and Rosie who are sitting on the sofa. George immediately says something to Rosie, and I watch, heartbroken, as my daughter walks swiftly with her cane into her room, shutting the door. I hear her lock it, something I only installed last week, and I now thank God that I did. I know she is safely under her bed, no doubt her racing heart pounding in her ears.
“What the hell are you doing?” George demands as he stalks over to where Jeremy has me pinned against him. My eyes widen, because I have never heard George so angry. He reaches out to grab me and pull me away from Jeremy, but stops at the last moment, his eyes going wide.
“Not so fast, old man,” Jeremy says as I feel something cold and metal against my temple. My body moves in slow motion at the terror freezing my veins, the sounds of them yelling now muffled in my brain. AlI I can think of is Rosie, knowing that no one is coming to save us.
“So right now, you are going to get into my car, and go into the city to sign those fucking papers, or else, when you get home, she won’t be breathing,” I hear Jeremy grit out, and George’s face pales.
“This has gone too far, son,” George says, the words barely registering, the thumping inside my head almost overtaking every other sense.
“You better leave… Tick… Tock…” Jeremy sneers. George looks at me with deep concern etched into his brow before he runs out the door.
The door slam shuts, and I swallow. I am alone. With Jeremy. My biggest nightmare.
“Now, my darling Emily, all we need to do is wait. I wonder what the hell we can do to pass the time?” Jeremy stares down at me like the devil, his eyes wandering over me slowly.
“You know we were so good together. You are so perfect for me. Always were. Why can’t we just go back to the way we were?” Jeremy says, almost sweetly, letting go of my arm finally. The pain sears through it as the blood pulses back into my muscles.
“You ruined it. It was all fine until you ruined us,” I growl out. If I am leaving this earth today, then I am not leaving without a fight.
“It is your fault for getting pregnant in the first place. We were fine until you decided to keep that fucking baby!” he yells, and I jump a little, my heart heavy knowing that Rosie can hear him.
“You just need to leave. Find someone new. There must be a million women who would love the chance to date a man like you.” The words taste terrible on my tongue as I say them. Not wanting any other woman to go through what I have, but I need him to leave. I need him to walk out, close the door, and get in his car and drive away.
“Oh, I fuck plenty. There are lots of women. But there is only one Emily… and she is all mine.” When he licks his lips, I feel the salty tears as they fall silently down my cheeks.
CHAPTER FORTY - BEN
I feel on edge as I make my way to the conference room. If George is here to sign off on the paperwork, I wonder what changed his mind. I should be much happier about it all than I am.
But I feel like shit.
Walking into the conference room, I see everyone seated. Everyone except Emily. I stop, my eyes grazing over everyone. Michael nods at me to take a seat, Beasley sitting like the Cheshire cat beside him. But George is alone. And he is not looking at me, not even giving me an acknowledgement.
Heading around the table, I take a seat on the other side of Beasley.
“Good afternoon, George,” I say confidently, but he gives me nothing in return. He looks straight ahead to Michael. He is on edge. Not happy.
“Where do I sign?” he asks, appearing keen to get it all over with. Michael clears his throat and pushes across the contract and a pen.
“George, if you can sign on page three, nine, and twelve, that would be great. Although I would advise that Emily or your lawyer of choice look over the contracts before—”
“No need,” George interrupts him and grabs the pen, starting to sign without even reading a single line. We are all quiet as we watch George sign the school over without any pushback, and I grip the table. He shoves the paperwork back to Michael, then goes to stand.
“Is that all? I need to go,” he says, appearing in a rush to leave.
“Just one more, George. I need you to fill in this form in relation to who you want the check made out to,” Michael says, pushing another piece of paper over to George. I look at Beasley, and I don’t know how I know, but I know he has done something. The way he is sitting is too confident. Like he knew it’d be this easy as he looks down his nose at George who is twice the man he is. The feeling in the room is totally off.
Michael flicks his eyes to me, deep concern etched into his brow. He feels it too. I look around the table, and everything else is as it should be. Sandra has a glass jug of water and a small bowl of chocolate Milk Duds because they are Harrison’s favorite. They make me think of Em and her little birthmark.
I watch as George rushes to pick up the pen and gets busy filling in the details. The silence is deafening and the urge to say something, to acknowledge the entire fucked-up situation, springs through me, but I remain silent. My jaw clenched.
“There. Is that all?” George asks Michael, who nods and stands, reaching out his hand.
“Congratulations, George. I know the school meant a lot, but hopefully the ten million will soften the blow,” Michael says, but George stands and walks out, not shaking his hand, not saying another word. He just leaves and actually runs out the door.
