He Watched Me Freeze Now He Begs For My Return Chapter 04
The next clip was tilted toward the ceiling. Paige must have forgotten to turn off the GoPro. In the late-night living room, my father’s voice was low. “Her mother didn’t lose control and hit the guardrail on her own. I was drunk. I rear-ended her.”
My mother was silent for a moment. “If I hadn’t testified that you were home all night, the police would have arrested you years ago.”
I stared at the screen.
They hadn’t adopted Paige out of kindness.
They had adopted her out of guilt.
The video kept playing.
My father said that once Caleb and I were married, I would eventually stop being so obedient, so easy to push around.
My mother gave a cold laugh. “After the gala, we slip Caleb a sedative and put Paige in bed with him. Take a few pictures. Nora will break the engagement herself.”
Every drop of blood in my body went cold.
I ran to the bathroom and dry-heaved over the sink until there was nothing left but acid.
Ten minutes later, I wiped my mouth and sat back down at the computer.
I edited together my parents’ confession and their plan to drug Caleb, then used the exact same file name to replace the “funny family video” in the gala playlist. After that, I encrypted the complete, unedited originals and sent them to a lawyer I had just hired.
They came home that evening.
My mother shoved a dress at me. “Go try this on. Don’t embarrass the family at the gala.”
I didn’t move.
Paige immediately rolled her eyes. “There she goes again, playing the victim.”
I looked at my parents. “Do you really want me to be happy?”
They were stunned for only a second before they both smiled.
“Of course.”
“Everything we do is for you.”
Caleb came over and rested a hand on my shoulder. “That’s just how Paige is. Don’t take it to heart. I’ll talk to her.”
I pushed his hand away. “Thank you,” I said softly.
Then I looked at each of them in turn.
“I have a surprise for you all on gala night, too.”