But what if—just maybe—it really was him?
I couldn’t miss even the tiniest chance.
I shut my eyes, pointing at the nearby surveillance camera. “Aren’t you afraid of the law?”
Sophia laughed like she’d heard a joke. “You really think I’d be here without Dad knowing? Emily, you’re just like your name—extra, useless trash. Your mom seduced a man and died in a Car Accident. Dad can’t even look at you without disgust. No one will ever love you.”
Tears burned my eyes. I yanked her hair, screaming, “My mom wasn’t like that! Don’t you dare insult her!”
“What are you waiting for? Pull her off me!”
The thugs swarmed me, fists and kicks raining down. My face and nose bled, but I refused to let go.
My mother had saved a man from a mismatched marriage and wasted her life for him, yet never regretted it.
The liar wasn’t my mom.
It wasn’t me.
It was Sophia and her mother.
They killed my mom and smeared her name!
Someone swung a baseball bat, striking my head.
A roar filled my skull, my knees buckled, and I collapsed.
Sophia grabbed my hair, slapping me twice across the face.
Her ugly, twisted face—Dad had probably never seen it like this.
But I had, countless times.