AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”
“Thanks, Emmy,” he says with a smile, and I smile a wholehearted one back. I’ve missed him so, so much.
We’re almost to the line of ice cream shop, when my steps come to a screeching halt. I stand there, frozen on the spot, as Colton eyes me with concern.
“You, okay? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost,” he asks as my eyes stay fixed on the familiar faces in the distance.
I nod, but look for a nearby bench to sit and compose myself. “Em, talk to me. You’re scaring me.”
Closing my eyes, I take some calming breaths. When I open them, I feel Colton’s hands on mine and his face directly in front of me.
“I'm alright. Shit, I'm sorry… It's just—I just saw the Robbins in line and needed a minute.” His hands twitch ever so slightly at that.
“We can head back if you want. We don’t need to go to Mickey’s. I'm sure everyone will understand,” he says, trying to ease the acid brewing in my stomach.
“No, I'm okay.” I go to stand, feeling my resolve click back into place. But within two steps, I'm brought face to face with Roger and Michelle Robbins.
“Emerson,” she says with a sneer, as we narrowly avoid bumping into each other. “I guess you’re alive.”
I school my features. I will not let this woman get to me. “Hello, Michelle. Hi, Roger.”
“Didn’t realize you were back in town,” Roger says in his monotone drawl.
“Yup,” I respond curtly.
“Hm… I would have expected to see you at Tommy’s funeral if you were. After all, he was your brother.”
Her words have me swallowing down the lump in my throat at the mention of his name. She really believed that her son was an angel…even after all this time.
Unable to hold it in any longer, I scoff. “The fact that you think I would have ever shown up to that abusive piece of shit’s funeral further proves how delusional you truly are.”
She huffs at me, and her hand flies to her chest as if my words wound her. Good, they should. Colton stands by my side for support, and knowing he’s there gives me the strength I need to speak my piece.
“How dare you,” she says as Roger glances around to see who’s watching our exchange.
I let out a deranged laugh. “No, how dareyou. How dare you to allow your son to repeatedly put his hands on me and do nothing about it. You saw the bruises! How dare you allow him to break into my room and invade my personal space whenever he wanted.”
“I never knew?—”
“Bullshit! You knew… You saw me replacing my locks on more than one occasion. What did you think was going on? Why do you think I stopped coming to dinner…stopped staying at the house.”
“I thought you were some hussy who didn’t care about the family that had taken you in, that cared for you.” Michelle’s venom triggers an unhinged side of my brain, and I let it all out.
“Are you fucking kidding me! Family? FAMILY?!? What fuckingfamily. I was a paycheck to you, and you know it. You didn’t give a fuck about me or my well-being. As long as you could still collect on me, everything was sunshine and rainbows. Happy to live in your own little fictitious world where your son wasn’t a drug-addicted rapist.”
Michelle audibly gasps at the truth but schools her features. My body radiates with anger and determination to finish this out. “Your son was a horrible excuse for a human being. He took away my dignity, and my strength, leaving me vulnerable and broken. To the point where I needed to leave this town and find myself again. I’m glad he’s dead, knowing he won’t be able to put anyone else through what I lived through. I should press charges on you both for allowing what you did under your roof.”
Roger scoffs, and my narrowed gaze flits his way. “And you… You should be ashamed of yourself, being a man of the law. All these years, you knew what was going on in the house just next door to you, and you didnothing. Allowing that family to live through hell, year after year, and not once did you step up. You are just as guilty as the man who laid his hands on them by remaining silent.”
He just stares blankly after that, and Michelle’s eyes bore into mine, like she has more to say. She opens her mouth to speak, then shuts it, then does it again.
“I have nothing more to say to you two.” Colton’s arm wraps around my shoulders and holds me close. Placing a small kiss on the top of my head helps my racing heart to calm down.
The Robbins stand there, staring at us for a second before Colton tells them to “Fuck off.”
“Come on, Em, let’s go,” he says, directing me away from them, and I follow without hesitation. Hearing their footsteps scurry away behind us has me finally breathing normally again.
After a few moments of silence, I finally speak up. “Thank you.”
