Chapter 2
I took one step toward Noah.
Jason moved faster.
“Give me the phone, buddy.”
Noah hugged it to his chest.
His eyes darted between us.
He knew that tone.
So did I.
It was the voice Jason used when he wanted obedience to look like kindness.
“Come on,” Jason said, forcing a smile. “That’s Daddy’s phone.”
I held out my hand.
“Noah, bring it to Mommy.”
Jason’s face snapped toward me.
“Emily.”
Just my name.
A warning.
Linda wiped her mouth with a napkin and suddenly looked alert, not wounded.
“Jason, take it from him.”
Noah backed into the doorway.
“I didn’t do bad,” he whispered.
That broke something in me.
I lowered my voice.
“No, baby. You didn’t do anything bad.”
Jason lunged.
I stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
His eyes flashed.
“You’re making a scene.”
I laughed once.
It sounded nothing like me.
“Your mother threw a dirty towel in my face, and now I’m the scene?”
His brother Mark stood from the couch.
“Maybe everyone should calm down.”
“Sit down, Mark,” I snapped.
He sat.
I had never spoken to Jason’s family like that.
The room felt different now.
They were still watching me, but this time they weren’t amused.
They were waiting to see how much I knew.
Noah ran to me and pressed the phone into my hand.
Jason’s fingers brushed mine as he tried to grab it.
I pulled back.
The screen was still open.
Messages between Jason and Linda.
My hands shook, but I scrolled.
Linda: Did you tell her yet?
Jason: No. Waiting until everyone is here.
Linda: Good. She won’t make a scene in front of family.
Jason: If she does, we’ll have witnesses.
Linda: She always loses control eventually.
Jason: After today, Emily won’t be living here anymore.
I looked up slowly.
“What is this?”
Jason swallowed.
“It’s not what you think.”
That sentence should be banned from marriages.
Because it always means it is exactly what you think.
I scrolled again.
There were messages from that morning.
Jason: Push her if you have to. She’ll snap.
Linda: I know how to handle her.
Jason: Just make sure she touches you first.
My stomach turned.
I looked at Linda.
“You planned this.”
She lifted her chin.
“I planned nothing.”
I held the phone higher.
“You told him to provoke me.”
Linda smiled, but her mouth trembled.
“You shoved a filthy towel into my face in front of everyone. They all saw it.”
Jason stepped closer.
“Emily, give me the phone.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“I said give me the phone.”
Noah whimpered behind me.
That tiny sound made the room fade.
I turned and scooped him up.
He buried his face in my neck.
Then I backed toward the kitchen with the phone in my other hand.
Jason followed.
“Don’t walk away from me.”
“Why?” I asked. “You already decided I’m leaving.”
He lowered his voice so the relatives wouldn’t hear.
“This doesn’t have to get ugly.”
“It already is ugly.”
“Mom thinks you need help.”
“Your mother needs a mirror.”
His jaw tightened.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
I looked past him at Linda.
“What was supposed to happen after I left?”
No one answered.
So I kept scrolling.
Then I found the group chat.
Jason.
Linda.
Mark.
Jason’s sister, Beth.
And someone saved as T. Coleman.
I didn’t know that name.
But the messages made my knees weak.
T. Coleman: Police prefer clear signs of instability.
Linda: She’ll give us that.
Mark: What about the kid?
Jason: Noah stays with me.
My breath vanished.
Noah stays with me.
I looked down at my son.
He was clutching my collar so hard his knuckles were white.
Jason saw my face and reached for me.
“Emily, listen.”
I stepped back.
“You were going to take my child.”
“No. I was going to protect him.”
“From who?”
He looked at the towel on the floor.
Then at his mother.
“From you.”
The word landed like a slap.
Linda walked toward us.
“You’ve been unstable for years.”
I stared at her.
“For years?”
She nodded.
“Your moods. Your anger. Your disrespect.”
“My disrespect started when you threw a towel in my face?”
“You attacked me.”
“After you attacked me.”
She smiled at the room.
“You see how she justifies violence?”
I looked around.
Some relatives avoided my eyes.
Others looked uncomfortable.
But none of them stood beside me.
Not one.
I knew then that if I stayed in that room, they would rewrite everything before sunset.
So I did the only thing I could.
I turned on Jason’s camera and started recording.
Jason froze.
“What are you doing?”
“Protecting myself.”
Linda lunged.
I moved Noah behind me and backed into the pantry doorway.
“Touch me while this is recording,” I said.
Her hand stopped midair.
The room went silent again.
Then the front doorbell rang.
Jason’s face went from angry to terrified.
Linda whispered, “Who is that?”
May you like
Noah lifted his head from my shoulder.
“Mommy,” he said softly, “Daddy said the police were coming to make you go away.”
