Chapter 5
“Mommy, how could you be so mean? Our teacher said we shouldn’t bully others!” Ethan jumped out, standing protectively in front of Emma.
y composure.
Fury surged through me, threatening to blow the lid off my
Ethan, come here!”
Ethan hid behind Emma, shaking his head and refusing to budge while crying.
Evelyn, are you out of your mind?!” David exclaimed.
“Out of
my mind? I think the two of you have been bewitched by this temptress!” I marched over and yanked Ethan away, shoving Emma aside when she tried to intervene.
She stumbled back, hitting the sofa with a thud.
“Ouch!”
Seeing this, Ethan instantly wriggled out of my grasp. Even David rushed to her side.
“Mommy, you’re a bad mommy! I don’t want you to be my mommy anymore!” Ethan cried, running into his room.
Before I could process what he was doing, he reappeared a second later, clutching a jade
bracelet in his hand.
He went to slip it onto Emma’s wrist. “Auntie Emma, if you wear this, you can be my mommy! This is my grandma’s heirloom, she said it’s only for Daddy’s wife!”
“Give it back!” I yelled, my voice shaking with rage.
Emma held onto my wrist, her eyes narrowed.
“Let. Go.”
Ethan took advantage of the distraction and shoved the bracelet towards Emma. It was already halfway up her wrist.
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Our Wedding, the Other Women Wore White
Chapter 5
“Ethan Hayes, if you put that bracelet on her wrist, I swear, I will…” I couldn’t even finishi the sentence. I had never hilt Ethan, not even once, but in that moment, I was so angry 1
could have strangled him.
That bracelet was more than just a piece of jewelry. It had belonged to David’s mother, a woman I had loved and respected dearly. She had been the one constant in my life, the one person who had always believed in me, even when my own parents had disowned me for marrying David. She had given me that bracelet on my wedding day, her eyes filled with tears, and told me it was
a family heirloom, passed down from mother to daughter–in–law
for generations.
“It’s Mommy’s, Ethan! You know you’re not supposed to touch it! Give it back!” I pleaded, my voice cracking with desperation.
Ethan shook his head, tears streaming down his face, but his small body was rigid with defiance. “No! You’re a bad mommy! You’re not my mommy anymore! Grandma wouldn’t
want you to have it!”
My breath caught in my throat. “Grandma wouldn’t want me to have it?” The words pierced me like shards of glass. Ethan had never met his grandmother. She had died before he was.
born.
How could he say such a thing? Where had he even learned those words?
I lunged for Ethan, trying to pry the bracelet from his grasp, but Emma stepped in, grabbing my arm and pulling me back.
rson!” David roare
“Get your hands off finally snapping out of his stupor. He pushed
Emma aside and knelt in front of Ethan, his face contorted with anger.
“Ethan! What have you done? Why did you take that bracelet? You know you’re not supposed to touch grandma’s things!”
He finally noticed the bracelet, and his face went white as a sheet. It was only then that I realized what had just happened. David had been so blinded by his infatuation with Emma, so caught up in the moment, that he hadn’t even realized what they were fighting about. He had been ready to defend her, even though she had just tried to steal a priceless family
heirloom.
At that moment, something inside me broke. The last vestiges of love I held for David, the
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Our Wedding, the Other Women Ware White
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last shreds of hope for our family, crumbled into dust.
“It’s just a bracelet, David,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” She snatched the bracelet from Ethan’s hand and held it out to me
contemptuously. “Here, take your precious heirloom.”
As I reached for the bracelet, it slipped from Emma’s grasp and clattered to the hardwood floor, shattering into a dozen pieces.
The sound, sharp and final, seemed to echo through the room.
Emma gasped dramatically, placing her hand over her mouth as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened. “Oops,” she said, her voice dripping with fake regret. “My bad.”
I stared at the broken pieces of jade scattered across the floor, my vision blurring with tears. It felt symbolic somehow, like our family, our life together, had just shattered into a million irreparable pieces.
The anger I had been suppressing erupted, hot and raw. Without thinking, I slapped Emma
across the face.
The sound of skin hitting skin was sickeningly loud. A bright red mark bloomed on her
cheek.
“Mommy hit her! Mommy hit her!” Ethan screamed, his voice high–pitched and frantic. “I’m telling the police! I’m putting you in jail!”
David, as always, reacted instinctively, pulling Emma into his arms as if she were the one who had been wronged. “Evelyn! What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, his face contorted with rage. “Look at what you’ve done! You’re acting like a crazy person!”
And then, before I could even register what was happening, he slapped me. Hard.
The blow caught me off guard, sending me reeling backward. I stumbled, my hand flying to my cheek, the sting of his hand a burning reminder of his betrayal.
“David….” I whispered, my voice trembling with shock and hurt. “You… you hit me? For her?”
“I…” David started to say, his anger momentarily forgotten as he seemed to finally comprehend what he had just done. He took a step towards me, his hand outstretched as if
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to touch me, to apologize, but I flinched away from him, my whole body recoiling from his
touch.
“Don’t,” I said, my voice cold and flat. “Just… don’t.”
I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.” David,” I said, my voice cold and steady, “You have three days to pack your things, and your son, and get out of my house!”
Chapret!
