Chapter 5

"Emily? Emily, are you okay?" Mom asked, her voice full of worry as she crouched down beside me, her hand trembling as she rubbed my back.

"What did that woman say on the phone? Did David do something?" she asked, her voice shaking.

I looked up at Mom's face, lined with worry and exhaustion.

I couldn't fall apart. I couldn't let myself break down.

For Lily, for Mom, I couldn't collapse.

I took a deep breath, forcing the swirling emotions back down. Bracing myself against the floor, I stood up. My legs were still weak, but my gaze had turned icy and resolute.

"Mom, I'm fine," I said, my voice hoarse but colder than ever. "She said some things that finally made me see everything for what it is."

I stormed into the bathroom and splashed ice-cold water onto my face, the chill biting into my skin and snapping me back to reality. My mind, which had been spinning out of control, finally started to clear.

The woman staring back at me in the mirror looked pale, her eyes puffy and red. But deep in those eyes, something fundamental had shifted.

Being weak and shedding tears wouldn't change anyone's heart. All it did was give my enemies satisfaction and bring pain to those who care about me.

From this moment on, the Emily Carter, who swallowed her pride for love and family, was gone for good.

I pulled out my phone and blocked David's number without a second thought.

Then I called Olivia Bennett, my college friend who was now an up-and-coming independent lawyer.

"Hey, Emily? To what do I owe this surprise? What's up?" Olivia's crisp, energetic voice came through the line.

"Olivia," I began, my voice still a bit hoarse but eerily calm. "I want a divorce, and I need your help. I want David to walk away with nothing. I want him ruined. I want him... to pay."

There was a brief silence on the other end, then Olivia's tone turned serious. "What happened? Take your time and tell me everything. Do you have any evidence?"

"Yeah," I said, staring into my own icy eyes in the mirror. "He's been cheating, and the other woman is at least five or six months pregnant.

"I saw it myself at the hospital today, heard it straight from them. Plus, I think he's already started hiding assets."

"Good. Five or six months pregnant, that's hard evidence," Olivia said, her tone all business. "Emily, keep your cool. You did the right thing by reaching out to me first.

"Listen, from now on, don't get into any confrontations with him, and definitely don't let things get physical. Keep yourself safe. Start collecting every shred of evidence you can, chat records, bank statements, photos, recordings, whatever you can find. Leave the rest to me."

"Thanks. I know what I have to do," I said as I hung up. For the first time in ages, a sense of calm settled over me.

With Olivia backing me up, at least on the legal front, I had a clear path forward.

But even as I tried to find some peace, trouble just wouldn't let me go.

By evening, David must've realized I'd blocked him, because he went so far as to call the house phone.

I stared at the familiar number flashing on the screen, gave a cold chuckle, picked up, and hit the record button.

"Emily! You blocked me? Are you done with your little tantrum?" His voice was tight with suppressed anger and impatience. "Divorce? Do you even know how bad this will be for you?

"The house was mine before we got married, and as for everything else... What do you think you'll actually get? How are you going to support yourself and Lily? With that outdated degree of yours?"

He always knew how to target my weakest spots, using money and my uncertainty about the future to control me.

"Don't worry about me," I said, my voice flat and steady.

My calm seemed to throw him off, and his voice grew even more agitated. "Emily, don't push your luck! Sophie's young.

"She doesn't know any better. She already knows she was wrong. What more do you want? Do you really have to make things ugly for everyone?"

"Whether she regrets it or not is not my problem," I replied, pausing deliberately before asking, "David, I just have one question for you. The night Lily was hospitalized with a high fever, where were you, really?"

There was a sudden silence on the other end, only his heavy breathing breaking the quiet.

After a few seconds, he forced himself to sound calm. "I-I was working overtime, of course! Didn't I already tell you? The project was urgent—"

"Oh, really?" I let out a cold laugh, the chill in my voice making him freeze again. "Sophie tells a different story. She told me you rushed off to be with her that night because she was 'feeling well.' Is that right?"

"She's lying." David shot back, his voice rising, but the guilt practically oozed from every word. "Emily. You'd believe some outsider over me? After all these years of marriage..."

"Marriage?" I cut him off, the irony tasting bitter. "When you got Sophie pregnant, when you told me you didn't want a second child with me, that's when our 'marriage' went straight to the trashbin!"

"You—!" he snapped, his voice shaking with anger.

"David, save the pathetic act. Get ready to hear from my lawyer," I said coldly.

I didn't wait to hear another excuse. I hung up, then yanked the landline cord straight out of the wall.

Finally, silence.

But I knew this was just the beginning.

With David's arrogance and Sophie's viciousness, there was no way they'd let this go easily.