Escaping Love (Rewrite) [Book #1]

Chapter 46

Disclaimer/Trigger Warning: This chapter contains/mentions verbal and physical abuse!

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|| CHARLOTTE ||

|| Wednesday, March 4th ||

I sat here eating breakfast, slowly munching on the bacon right as Jackie finished her physics assignment.

"All right, thank you for the breakfast, mom. I'm heading to school." Jackie grabbed her bag and turned to me, "Bye, babe."

"Bye," I said before Jackie zoomed out the door and drove away.

I wonder if I should tell Cindy about the past couple of days. Jackie knew everything, and she knew she didn't want me to be alone. Maybe if I talk to Cindy about it, it will help me relieve some of the anxiety.

"Hey, Cindy?" I asked as she continued cutting vegetables.

"Yes?"

"Can we talk?"

"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to tell you about yesterday's events."

"Okay. Let's go sit on the couch," Cindy smiled and placed a few plates in the fridge before we sat comfortably in the living room.

I told her about the dream that I had Tuesday at 2:00 AM. Then my day at school and how I was panicking every minute of every period as the classroom door opened. All the times, I thought he would walk in and yell. Say something, anything that would hurt me in front of my students.

"Have you gotten any news about Ethan?" I asked Cindy.

"No. We haven't heard anything."

"Has my mother called?"

"She did, Monday night as she promised," Cindy said.

"My mom tried calling me this morning. I guess I was still sleeping. She left a voicemail to call her back. I assumed it's to check how I'm doing."

"She has the day off today, doesn't she?"

"Yeah," I said. I looked at the clock, and it was only 8:30 AM. I decided I should call her. I took my phone and dialed her number, leaving it on speaker.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi, honey. It's Wednesday, and I thought you were at school?"

"I took the day off. I haven't been feeling well. I thought it'd be best. I'm staying with Cindy while Jackie's at school, so I'm not home alone. Don't worry," I said.

"Hi, Emily," Cindy said.

"Cindy, how are you doing?"

"Good, and yourself?"

"Well, I'm glad you both are here. We should discuss some news, and I wanted to tell you both about it before it happens."

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"I haven't heard anything from Ethan. I assume he's still in Seattle?"

"We don't know," Cindy said.

"He hasn't been home, and he hasn't been answering his calls. I thought it might be time to file for a divorce."

"You both have been married for twenty-eight years. Please, don't do it for my behalf," I said.

"Honey, we're grateful you are well and a full-grown woman. It wouldn't have been easy filing for divorce if you were underaged, meaning we would have to deal with custody. I know you don't want it to happen, but I don't think it would be great if we stayed married."