Chapter 2
Suddenly, the world around me flickered out, and with a blink, I was thrust back to the very year my parents decided to part ways.
Amanda had yet to discover Bruce’s affair with that young model. She hadn’t stormed into his office, confronting him.
It was the dead of night, but sleep was the last thing on my mind. Time was running out. Tomorrow, Amanda would stumble upon the telltale signs of Bruce’s betrayal on his phone after he failed to come home one night. This discovery would push her past her limits, and she would decide it was time to face him and end their marriage.
I sprang out of bed and raced toward the master bedroom, my small fist pounding on the door.
This evening was my prime, perhaps only, chance to step in and stop the heartbreak of my history from unfolding anew.
rang.
Amanda, groggy and disoriented, opened it, her eyes heavy with sleep. She looked at me, puzzled by my nighttime urgency. “What’s wrong,
sweetie?”
Without a word, I slipped past her, quickly locking the door behind me.
Sitting on her bed, I took a deep breath and let it all spill out. I told her everything because I knew, apart from myself, no one loved me more than my mother.
I carefully avoided any mention of my death, which was too painful. Instead, I focused on how we could take control and stop Bruce from destroying our lives.
Her eyes were welled up with tears.
Sensing the words I couldn’t voice, she drew me into a tight embrace.
There, in the comforting cocoon of her arms, I absorbed her warmth, finding solace in her protective hold.
I looked up at her. “He’s been paranoid, Installing cameras around the house, thinking you’d cheat on him, while he’s the one cheating.”
Thankfully he hadn’t stooned to putting cameras in me neNYAAM. AYNEYWIEN TZAHITANT nave safely disclosed everything to Amanda right ther
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I suggested she secretly collect proof and go straight for a divorce.
I assured her that in court, I would opt to stay with Bruce.
Watching her eyes brim with tears and her voice halting, I placed my hand over her mouth softly. “Mom, do you believe in me? I swear, I’ll see to it that you live well from now on.”
