Instantly, Mark deflated.
He gently stroked her belly. “Good boy.
Daddy’s sorry.”
Sarah smirked, regaining her composure.
“Emily, do you want to be a murderer?”
She was using the baby to threaten me.
Trying to pin all the blame on me.
く
I laughed in disbelief.
“Are you insane?”
“I’m not your mother. I don’t have to fulfill
your demands.
33
“Whether you have the baby or not is none of
my damn business.”
Sarah started screeching into the phone.
I could hear her even with the phone held
away from my ear.
Sarah was usually emotionally stable, but if
she didn’t get her way, she’d explode,
く
screaming and yelling like a lunatic.
Every time that happened, my parents and I
would cave to her every unreasonable
demand.
But not this time.
My mom caved.
“Okay, okay, I’ll learn to cook. I’ll take care of
you.”
Sarah’s screams gradually subsided.
She’d won again.
L
But this time, I wasn’t the one losing.
“Emily, are you happy now?”
“You’re such a good daughter, after we
raised you for all these years.”
“Just you wait. You’ll regret this.”
She was furious.
I replied dismissively, “Sure, sure. I’ll be
waiting.”
I hung up and treated the entire village to
roasted lamb.
L
Today called for a celebration. A bonfire.
Away from my family, my writing flourished. I
could write a short story a day, and they were
all doing well.
Definitely worth celebrating.
I used to be terrified of the villagers.
But now I knew how genuine and kind they
were.
They were wonderful people.
I decided to write a story about them.
L
The next day, I was internet famous.
The entire online world knew about me
“abandoning” my parents and my sister with
cerebral palsy.
They’d posted twelve videos, each one
portraying me as an ungrateful wretch.
Overnight, their account gained tens of
thousands of followers, and the number was
still climbing.
They wanted to use me to become
influencers, to make money and have
everyone condemn me.
<
Kind–hearted people were already sending
them money.
I couldn’t let them scam innocent people, and
I certainly wasn’t going to let them win.
I quickly chose two videos from my phone
and posted them online.
Video one: A compilation of my mom verbally
abusing me, including text messages and the
security footage from my old office.
Video two: Examples of Sarah manipulating and threatening me, demanding I buy things for her, even her husband’s underwear.
<
At the end of the video, I added: “What would
you do?”
The internet exploded.
Comments flooded in: “If that were me,
I’d
have been gone long ago. I can’t believe she
put up with that for so long.”
“Being disabled doesn’t give you the right to
abuse people.”
