Chapter 4: The Bargain
Chapter 4: The Bargain
Two days later, my doorbell rang. I checked the peephole. My parents stood on the porch, looking haggard and desperate.
I opened the door but left the chain on. "What do you want?"
"Evelyn, please," my father begged, his usual commanding tone replaced by a pathetic whine. "Preston is in county jail. They denied him bail because the judge considers him a threat to a minor. You have to drop the charges."
"I don't press charges," I replied coldly. "The state of Illinois does. And they have the tape."
My mother pushed her face near the crack in the door. "We will pay for Sophie’s college. We will buy you a new house. Just talk to the prosecutor! Tell them it was a misunderstanding. Preston’s career will be ruined! Chloe is threatening an annulment!"
"Good," I said.
"How can you be so vindictive?" my mother cried. "He is your brother!"
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"And Sophie is your granddaughter," I whispered. "But you didn't care when she was bleeding on the marble floor."
I slammed the door, finally severing the rotting strings that had tied me to them for thirty years.
