Chapter 30

Emma looked away. She was getting tired of these games he was trying to play with her, but she wouldn’t give in to him. The bus would come soon, and she could get away from them. She turned her face away from them refusing to give them the satisfaction of her attention. Will looked up to try and intimidate Emma some more, but saw that she was looking away. He looked at her profile, and saw a face he wished he could forget.

​ “This is annoying,” he said, backing off of Vivian.

​ “Willie, baby,” Vivian whined trying to get him to resume. “I thought we were going to give them a show.

​ “Get off of me,” he shrugged her off. “I am not your ‘baby’,” he hissed at her. “Besides, you’re drunk.”

​ “But Will,” Vivian reached over to touch him.

​ “I said, get off.”

​ Emma was so thrown off by his behavior. Not ten seconds ago he was trying to put on some kind of show for her. And now he was acting as though Vivian disgusted him. Something had pissed him off. His mood swings had no warning. They were volatile and random. Whatever he planned to do now was none of her business. She just needed to get back to her father.

​ The bus arrived and many people were getting off. Emma looked back at Will, who was still looking at her. There was fire in his gaze, but Emma would not allow herself to get burned by him. But after the night he’d subjected her to, she felt she needed a win. Before getting on the bus, they were going to get a piece of her mind. Emma Wells was no one’s doormat.

​ “Car sex? Really? Aren’t you above that? Or is it because the woman with you doesn’t deserve a classy hotel, private pool, or a luxury apartment like I did? Figures. Cheap girls get cheap car sex.”

​ Vivian and Will were both speechless at Emma’s bravado. Vivian’s face registered shock and disgust while Will looked almost impressed. Emma gave them one last look before getting on the bus. A sense of pride swelled within as the bus pulled away. She looked back and saw that Will’s car hadn’t moved. A laugh erupted from her. Revenge truly was sweet. The bus ride was longer than she wanted. She’d had enough alone time with her thoughts.

​ “What a rollercoaster,” she said out loud. The day began with her reliving her childhood memories. Dreaming of simpler and happier times while caring for father. And it ended with having a mind-blowing orgasm in her dream apartment, and then watching that same man trying to have car sex with the woman that stole the supposed love of her life from her. Rollercoaster didn’t even to describe that day. It was as though she had entered some kind of twilight zone. Like there were multiples Emmas. One Emma was a student, who did her best in school to try and better her future. Another Emma was enslaved to her family. Working to support them and care for her ailing father. And another Emma was completely addicted to William Stewart. That Emma craved him. She was insatiable for him. There was also the chance that she was developing feelings for him.

​ None of the Emmas were happy. Happiness was something she feared she’d never know. It was something she could dream about. Fantasy Emma could be happy. That would have to be enough. Fantasy Emma lived in a great apartment, and had an amazing boyfriend that was sweet and kind to her, but had a dangerous edge that made her knees buckle. Real Emma would have to come to terms with what her life was really like. It was a series of strange, terrible, and sometimes catastrophic events. And with a few flashes of fun.

​ It was very late when she arrived back at her house. Her head was pounding, and she was sure she’d have a horrible hangover in the morning. She went into her new room that she now shared with her father. The sight before her was terrifying. Her father was half way out of the bed, the top half of his body was on the floor.

​ “Daddy!” Emma cried jumping over to help him. “What happened? Why are you like this?”

​ She struggled to get her father back onto the bed. She felt horrible. Instead of playing around in bars and apartments, she should have been home taking care of him. When she got him right again, she could tell he had been crying, and her heart shattered into dust.

​ “Daddy,” Emma sobbed. I’m so sorry. I should have been here to take care of you. What happened.”

​ “Wa…wa…ter. Water,” he rasped. Emma grabbed the water on the nightstand and helped him drink it. She wiped off his face and held onto his hand.

​ “Daddy, we could be somewhere else. We don’t have to be here. We could live somewhere better,” she cried. He had fallen off of the bed with two able-bodied people one room away. They chose not to help him. They listened to his cries, heard his suffering and actively decided to leave him there. They were the definition of wicked.

​ “Home,” he said, fresh tears streaming down his face. “Home,” he repeated, his weak fingers tightened around hers. Emma’s heart jumped into her throat.

​ “This isn’t home. It hasn’t been for a long time.”

​ His eyes were a deep well of sadness and pain. The addiction had numbed his emotions for a long time. Feeling things would take some getting used to.

​ “Let me get your medicine,” Emma sniffled, wiping her tears away with her hand. She walked into the living room and saw Anna watching TV.

​ “I’ve always thought you were horrible,” Emma spat. “But now I know you’re evil.”

​ “Hey,” Anna responded without looking at her. “You’re the one who said I didn’t have to care of him. Besides, he’s not my dad.”

​ “He’s been your father for ten years! He took care of you! Remember when you broke your leg? He carried you everywhere!”

​ “Please, Emma. That was so long ago. The truth is that he gave us up for a bottle. That’s not a man in there. That’s just a walking bottle of liquor. He doesn’t love anything unless it can get him tanked. You’re the only one who refuses to realize that. Just give it up and let him die already. We’ll all be a lot better off.”

​ “You are a soulless bitch!”

​ “Stop yelling, or Mom will wake up.”

​ “Both of you can go fuck off and rot in hell. You’re the worst kind of people. My father is still in there!” Emma stomped away. Anna was completely unfazed by her outburst. Emma went in the kitchen and prepared her father’s medicine, as well as some tea to help him sleep.

​ She was incensed. Not just and Jane and Anna, but at herself as well. She knew her father needed her. She should have been there to take care of him, not out with friends. Her priority was her father’s recovery. Part of that was making sure he was comfortable and happy. And for some reason to him that meant being in that house. As she went back to her father’s room, she could hear Jane snoring. The house was a complete disaster. Aside from ignoring a bedbound man in his own home, neither of them had bothered to clean the house. In fact, it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned from the last time she did like two weeks ago.

​ Enough was enough. Emma decided in that moment that she wouldn’t allow anyone to harm her or her father again.