Chapter 3
In that moment, all the doubts from my previous life hit me at once.
Why did Alissa always get so nervous whenever the military came by to visit?
Why did she always have some excuse to keep me from going to see where Michael died, saying I'd get too emotional, or that it was too far and I wasn't strong enough for the journey?
A wild yet strangely plausible suspicion took shape in my mind.
Did Alissa know all along that Michael wasn't really dead?
They must've teamed up to fool me.
One made me play the grieving widow, the other made me her unpaid nurse.
That thought hit me like an ice pick, sending chills through my whole body.
I whipped my head around to face the soldier who'd brought the news, my voice trembling but my eyes steady. "Thanks for letting us know. I've made up my mind.
"Michael was a hero who gave his life for his country. I can't let him be left out there all alone. I want to go with you to the base and bring him home personally."
"What?" Alissa blurted out, her face going ghostly pale, even worse than when she first heard about Michael's death.
"Emma, why would you go? It's so far, and you've never traveled that far before. What if something happens on the way? The military will take care of everything; you don't need to go and mess things up!" she blurted out.
Her desperate tone and frantic attempt to stop me might as well have been a confession.
I sneered inwardly, but on the outside, I looked like I was about to cry. "Alissa, I'm Michael's wife. Bringing my husband home is what any wife should do. how is that causing trouble? Don't you want to see your son one last time?"
Alissa was left speechless, her lips trembling as she avoided my gaze.
I turned away from her and faced the soldier, who looked just as stunned. My voice was steady. "Sir, please, you have to let me come with you. I need to do this."
The soldier looked at me, clearly moved by my determination, and finally nodded. "Alright, Emma. I'll report to my superiors and arrange for you to come with us."
Alissa slumped on the bed, her face ashen. For the first time, there was genuine terror in her cloudy old eyes.
I knew I'd called their bluff.
Michael, Olivia, just you wait.
This time, I had crawled back from hell, and I was not here to let them use me as their pawn ever again.