Chapter 4
1037words
They died as heroes, leaving their daughter alone in the world.
And Caleb had dipped into our savings to set Jessica up for life--a sleek car, a cozy apartment, little luxuries. At the time, I hadn't fought it much.
But once Caleb's family made money, Jessica clung to him like a leech.
She became a permanent, helpless fixture in our lives
A light bulb blew? Caleb was on his way.
A clogged toilet ? Caleb with a plunger.
A paper cut from chopping vegetables? A full-blown crisis, requiring Caleb to rush her to the ER.
Whenever I gently suggested boundaries, Jessica would instantly play her trump card, crying about her dead parents.
I used to be torn, caught in the middle, unsure of where the line was between obligation and our own life.
But being reborn, I understood.
Jessica's parents saved him, not me.
His need to repay them through Jessica was his burden.
They had no right to cast me as the villain in their sick little drama.
I couldn't take another second of it. I pushed myself up, my body feeling both heavy and hollow.
"Caleb, I'll have a lawyer draft the divorce papers."
"We're done."
Jessica, leaning on Caleb, looked up in shock.
For the first time, with both of us staring at him, Caleb slowly, deliberately, pushed Jessica's hand away.
He grabbed my arm, his eyes wide with a kind of panicked disbelief.
"Sophie, what did you just say?"
I stood firm, meeting his gaze directly, my voice cold and steady.
"I said we're getting divorced."
"This isn't a discussion."
Caleb's face twisted. His fingers tightened around my wrist painfully, fury simmering beneath the surface.
"Sophie, get a hold of yourself! You're the one who started this! I haven't even decided on the consequences for you yet! What gives you the right to end this?"
Then his tone did a complete one-eighty, softening into that placating, reasonable cadence he used when he thought he was managing me.
"Look... I'll talk to Jessica. I'll get her to drop the charges."
"Stop this nonsense. The baby...it was a terrible accident. I didn't mean it. I'll protect you."
Seeing the earnest plea in his eyes, I burst out laughing.
He condemned me without a second thought, and now he offered to be my shield?
"Caleb, I don't your protection."
"I didn't start the fire. Do your job and investigate."
I tried to wrench my arm free and walk away, but Caleb held fast.
His eyes were a storm of confusion and exhaustion, as if wrestling with whether to shield me.
"How can you be so childish about this? Jessica, a girl who's lost everything, is more reasonable than you!"
Jessica shot me a venomous look, instantly dissolving it into pitiful tears.
"Caleb, if that's what you think is best... I'll forgive her... for you."
"I won't press charges. But... I'm so scared of what Sophie might do next..."
"You promised my parents... you swore you'd never let me get hurt..."
I stopped in my tracks, turning to watch the performance.
Hearing her invoke her parents again, Caleb's expression shifted through shades of guilt and conflict.
Finally, a grim, resigned determination hardened his features.
"Sophie... I'm sorry. I can't let Jessica suffer any injustice."
With that, he led Jessica away.
The heavy door clicked shut behind them, sealing me alone in the cold, sterile room.
I pressed my lips together until I tasted blood.
This was my husband, Caleb.
He claimed he wanted to help, yet believed I was a criminal.
He apologized with one breath, and abandoned me to an interrogation room with the next.
Pathetic.
They kept me locked in that room for forty-eight hours.
No water.
No food.
I didn't need to guess whose idea that was.
Jessica, the hero's orphaned daughter.
Everyone instinctively saw her as the ultimate victim.
Everyone protected her, coddled her, and hated me simply because she did.
For crimes I never committed.
As my consciousness faded, a memory surfaced—Jessica throwing herself in front of a car.
Back then, I was still blind to her games.
I thought she was just a clumsy, troubled girl.
I had frozen, stunned. The thermos of homemade chicken soup I'd brought for her smashed on the pavement, scalding my leg.
The next second, Caleb shoved me hard to the ground.
Then came Jessica's wail,
"Sophie! Why did you push me?!"
Enraged, Caleb punched a nearby tree, showering me in dust and leaves, making my eyes sting.
I pleaded my innocence, but he seemed deaf.
He sped home, locked me in, told me to "think about what I'd done."
Reflect on what?
It was the moment I finally realized their relationship had crossed a line.
No matter how I cried or argued, Caleb refused to believe a word I said.
I demanded he check the security footage from the store across the street. He just stormed out.
Before leaving, he said,
"You've already hurt Jessica. Do you want her to think I don't trust her too?"
"She's like a sister! Why can't you accept that?!"
A tear escaped, tracing a path down my cheek.
Another memory flashed, Jessica tumbling down the stairs.
Caleb's brow was furrowed, his gaze icy.
"I told you to stay away from her! Why did you do this?!"
"You're impossible! Jessica, don't be scared, I'll take you to the hospital."
Caleb scooped her up into his arms.
As they left, Jessica shot me a look of pure, mocking triumph.
That was the day I first thought about divorce.
That same day, I found out I was pregnant.
Like many women, I gave the man I'd chosen chance after chance he never deserved.
I thought, foolishly, maybe with a baby, he'd change?
But now, he'd killed that chance. He had killed our child.
I knew, with a chilling finality, that he would never change.
I refused to be the inconvenient wife, the third wheel in his twisted drama of guilt and obligation, any longer.
But walking away wasn't enough. Not yet.
But first, I was going to make them pay.
