Chapter 10
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"I never threatened her—she begged to marry me! She was thrilled about the new ID law!"
"She dragged me to the courthouse the day it passed! Oh, and gave me all her tuition for games and a computer! Haha!"
Mike smirked, showing their chat history on his phone.
Susan snatched it, reading.
She trembled, then slapped Emily.
"This is how you repay me? Blaming Lily? How could you?"
"I paid for your tutors, and you say I'm controlling? You skip class for him and call it love?"
"Emily, you're a stupid, worthless girl!"
She hit Emily's back repeatedly.
Emily cried and dodged.
The police didn't stop her.
Eventually, Susan collapsed, sobbing.
Emily turned to me, hateful.
"You said we were best friends! Why not take the blame? You wanted my family ruined?"
"If you'd just admitted it, I'd have stopped Mom! Why did you do this?"
She screamed, nearly insane.
Mike laughed as officers took him away.
He wasn't guilty of forced marriage, but kidnapping Emily was clear—jail time.
After the investigation, Susan and John apologized.
I ignored them.
I saw my parents off to our hometown.
Back at school, I ran into Emily withdrawing.
The story had spread online.
Students pointed and laughed.
She glared at me and ran off.
But the shame followed her.
She'd blamed me for her own choices—a stain for life.
Plus, the marriage record.
Mike, though jailed, refused divorce.
She filed, but he withdrew during the cooling-off period.
It'd take years to escape him.
She moved back to our hometown.
But someone posted the story online with her real name.
She was shamed everywhere.
Susan moved them repeatedly.
Eventually, I lost track of Emily.
This time, justice was on my side.
