Chapter 6
Dawn broke.
I hadn't slept a wink, but I wasn't tired at all.
My mind was sharper and more wired than ever.
The cloud backup finally hit 100 percent.
I logged out of every account, then did a factory reset on the black phone.
When I was done, I put it in my bag with the evidence pouch.
This phone had served its purpose.
Now it was my turn.
I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts, landing on a number I hadn't touched in forever.
Sophia Chase.
She had been my college roommate, and once she was my closest friend.
After graduation, she got into a top law firm and fought her way up, becoming a famous divorce and property dispute lawyer.
Meanwhile, David talked me out of grad school, and I walked straight into a marriage that buried me.
Our lives split for good the day I walked down the aisle.
David never liked me hanging out with Sophia.
He said she was too forceful and too ambitious and would be a bad influence on me.
Looking back, he had simply been afraid.
Scared that having someone sharp and powerful by my side would expose all his lies and control.
In eight years, we ran into each other a few times at reunions and made small talk like strangers.
I stared at the number, hesitating for a few seconds.
Then I hit the call button.
The phone rang three times before someone picked up.
"Hello?"
A crisp, slightly distant voice came through the line.
"Sophia, it's me, Emily."
My voice was calm.
There was silence on the other end.
After a long pause, Sophia's voice came through again, sounding a little unsure.
"Emily?"
"Yeah."
"My husband, David, died in a car accident yesterday."
I stated the fact in the simplest terms.
Sophia was clearly stunned by the news.
"I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Are you all right?" Sophia asked, and her voice wavered.
"I'm not okay," I said, cutting straight to the point.
"I'm really not okay. I need your help.
"I need a lawyer, and I need the best one.
"I want everything that belongs to me and my kids, down to the last dollar."
Sophia instantly caught the resolve in my voice.
She didn't ask for details, just said one word.
"Okay."
"Send me your address. I'm coming over right now."
After hanging up, I let out a long, slow breath.
This was the first step in my fight back.
I changed out of the hospital gown and put on the clean clothes the police had brought me.
Just then, my phone rang.
It was Margaret Rowe.
I looked at her name flashing on the screen, and a cold smile pulled at my mouth.
I declined the call and blocked her number along with Richard's.
From this moment on, I didn't need their voices in my world ever again.
I packed up my bag and walked out of the hospital room.
At the end of the hallway, the first light of morning came through the window, blinding and full of promise.
I walked toward the light, step by step, determined.
I was no longer the miserable woman who once pleaded in the pouring rain.
I was Emily Hughes.
I was a mother with teeth, armed and heading into a fight.
David, Vanessa, and the Rowe Family.
They owed me, and they owed my children.
I was going to collect every one of those debts, with interest.