I looked down at my mother’s hand, then up into her desperate, furious eyes.
“You ruined this family the day you decided my only value was funding your favorite daughter’s affair with my husband,” I said, my voice cold and loud enough for everyone to hear. I yanked my arm out of her grip. “You are dead to me. Both of you.”
I turned back to Derek. He was shaking, hyperventilating as his boss whispered something furious into his ear and stormed out of the house. His career was over. His finances were frozen. His secret was a public spectacle.
“You wanted to give your son your last name, Derek?” I said, grabbing my designer coat and my purse from the entryway table. “Congratulations. He’s all yours. And so is the debt.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I didn’t stay to watch the screaming matches that broke out as the guests scrambled for the door. I walked out of the house I had paid for, down the driveway, and got into my car.
As I drove away from the wreckage of my old life, I didn’t shed a single tear. For the first time in six years, I felt incredibly light. They thought they had broken me, but they had only forged me into something they could never defeat. I was free.
