- 10.
Jessica had been following me.
She’d been hiding, listening to everything
Liam and I said.
She came out after he left, and her eyes were
full of hate.
“Emily, you’re hard to kill.
وو
“I went to so much trouble, and you’re still
alive.”
She walked over and smashed my phone.
“Don’t think you can run to Liam and tell him
what’s going on. He’s not going to believe
you!”
“Yeah, I did it all.”
“I knew there was a riot, and I sent you there
VV
vvas a li
anu I Son you thoIC
anyway. I lied to get you to go to that
restricted area. I took your name off the
rescue list. I told the embassy you were fine.”
“I wanted you to die over there!”
“So what if you know? Liam’s not going to
believe you. If he cared, he wouldn’t have
ignored you for a month.’
99
I looked at the broken phone.
I slapped her.
Then I pinned her to the ground, taking out all
the anger I’d been holding in.
I grabbed her throat.
“Does it hurt? That’s how I lived for a
month.‘
“”
“I had to fight people for food, I had to fight
wild dogs.”
“But I lived…”
Jessica’s face was filled with fear.
“I’m not letting you walk all over me
anymore!”
anymore!”
I’d been a doormat for too long.
I’d been working hard in therapy.
I was investigating everything, with the help
of Dr. Peak and my lawyer.
Even if Jessica hadn’t come looking for me, I
wouldn’t have let her get away with this.
“Liam won’t let you get away with this!”
Someone grabbed my hand.
It was Liam.
- 11.
Jessica started crying. “Liam, she’s trying to
kill me! She’s jealous, she’s framing me, she
wants to kill me…”
99
Liam kicked her away.
He took out a handkerchief and wiped the
blood off my hands.
He was gentle, but tears were falling into my
palm.
“Emily, I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t know Jessica did all this to you. I
didn’t know what you went through.”
“I heard everything. I failed to protect you.
Liam slapped himself.
The ring fell out of his hand.
It rolled down the drain, gone.
But it left a deep mark on his palm.
He knelt down, grabbing my clothes.
“Emily, give me one more chance.”
“I’ll make it up to you. I’ll prove my love to
you.”
“”
I pulled his fingers off my clothes, one by one.
“It’s too late.‘
“”
I didn’t want his love.
I wanted the people who hurt me to pay.
I looked at Jessica.
“I don’t need a recording. The money the
Walkers paid me is enough to find out the
truth.”
Jessica looked at Liam, begging for help.
But Liam just looked at me, forcing a smile
through his tears.
“Emily, you don’t have to do that.‘
“I’ll find out everything for you.”
99
“I know you’ll never forgive me. But please,
let me do this for you.
“”
I didn’t say yes, and I didn’t say no.
Liam moved fast.
He could ignore me for a month, or find out
the truth in three days.
He sent Jessica to jail and called another
press conference to clear my name.
Liam, who never bowed to anyone, apologized
in front of the world.
I felt nothing.
One day, his assistant delivered a new set of
divorce papers.
“Mr. Walker says he can’t face you.”
“He’s giving you everything he owns.‘
I didn’t argue. I took it all.
As I left, the assistant stopped me.
“Ms. Carter, Mr. Walker hasn’t been eating.
He’s not himself.”
“The other night, he stood in the rain with
your photo all night. He’s been in a coma ever since. His grandmother is devastated.”
“Could you…could you visit him?”
April 7th.
The day I came to the Walker family.
Ten years later, everything had changed.
I paid for my mistakes.
Now, it was Liam’s turn to pay.
Whether he lived or died was none of my
business.
I bought a new estate with better security
with the money, on Dr. Peak’s advice.
I filled the yard with sunflowers and got a big
white dog.
Every morning, the sunlight hit the dew.
It was more beautiful than any diamond.
Every morning, the sunlight hit the dew.
It was more beautiful than any diamond.
Without Liam, my life was gonna be amazing.
