“Come to me,” Ethan pleaded. “Let me help you, Emma. Not just with the trial—but with everything. Let me take you away from all of this.”
I clutched the phone tightly, my heart pounding. This was it. My chance to leave. To escape this nightmare. To fight for myself. I took a deep breath, my decision made.
"I’m coming, Ethan.”
The house was silent. Too silent.
Jason, Lily, and Noah were gone. They had packed up and moved into their newly bought mansion—a home filled with luxury, laughter, and a future that didn’t include me. They had left me behind without a second thought.
It should have broken me. Maybe a part of me had broken. But as I sat in the empty living room, staring at the divorce papers I had rewritten myself, something inside me hardened.
I wasn’t going to fight for a marriage that was already dead. I wasn’t going to beg for a son who had already chosen another mother. I wasn’t going to cry for a family that had never truly loved me.
No. I was going to disappear. And one day—I would return as someone they would all fear.
With Ethan’s help, I moved in silence. I made sure the new divorce papers were finalized—taking nothing from Jason. Not a single cent. I wouldn’t owe him a damn thing.
Then, I did something even more drastic. I reached out to an underground contact Ethan’s colleagues had helped me find—someone who could provide me with what I needed. An unclaimed corpse. It had belonged to a woman of similar build and age—another forgotten soul discarded by the world.
I dressed the body in one of my favorite dresses. Then, with shaking hands, I placed my wedding ring on its finger. And finally—I unclasped the delicate gold necklace Jason had given me when he still loved me. The one I had cherished even after everything. The one Noah used to tug on as a baby while giggling, his small fingers tracing the pendant.
"Mommy, I like this! Is this magic?"
"No, sweetheart," I had laughed. "But Daddy gave it to me, so it’s special."
"Then it’s magic!" Noah had grinned, curling up in my lap.
A lump formed in my throat. That was years ago. Now, Noah clung to Lily instead.
I draped the necklace around the corpse’s neck, swallowing the pain. It was done. The woman on the bed was no longer a stranger. She was Emma Romano.
That night, before I set the house ablaze—
I picked up my phone with trembling fingers, hesitating only for a second before dialing Jason’s number.
Ring.