Chapter 5
“Scarlett! Open the damn door!”
Johnson’s voice boomed through the hallway. I flinched.
“You wanna dump me? Say it to my face! Open up!”
I sighed.
Didn’t rush to open it.
First, I changed into something warm and comfortable.
Then, I opened the door.
Johnson stood there without a jacket,
in the icy chill of a New York March night-
Like he couldn’t even feel the cold.
“Come in.”
I stepped aside. Calm.
I sat down on the couch like I owned the place.
Seven years married to Johnson had trained me well-
I could handle his tantrums like I was made of stone.
He didn’t sit.
Just stood over me, tall and furious, like a thundercloud blocking out the light.
“Who the hell gave you the guts to leave me?”
His eyes burned.
I just looked at him-
And rolled mine.
“It’s not the first time I’ve said I wanted a divorce.”
“Why are you acting so surprised?”
“Johnson, you didn’t actually think I was still in love with you, did you?”
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That wiped the smug off his face.
1 hit a nerve,
Back when we started, I did love him.
He had that rich boy charm and pretty face-
And when he pretended to be sweet, I fell hard.
But here’s what he never understood-
No sane woman stays loyal to someone who treats her like garbage.
It took less than a year for me to see it-
Johnson wasn’t just a jerk.
He was a monster.
That’s why I asked for a divorce in year two.
Too bad he was even crueler than I thought-
He got me pregnant.
So I stayed.
Swallowed every ounce of hurt, all for the baby.
“Scarlett, love me or not-
You better understand one thing.”
“Unless I’m dead, you’ll never leave me.”
Same script, different day.
I didn’t even flinch.
He frowned.
“You don’t believe me?”
I shook my head.
“Of course I do.”
“That’s exactly why I’ve put up with this crap for so long.”
“Johnson, I’m thirty now.”
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He furrowed his brow-
Didn’t get it.
I stood.
Stepped out of his shadow.
For the first time, he really saw me.
Not the scared girl he could bully.
But someone stronger than he remembered.
This city–New York–was his turf,
Didn’t matter where I went, he always found me.
That’s why I didn’t bother hiding.
I booked a suite at the most luxurious hotel in Manhattan.
Right in the open.
Through the floor–to–ceiling window, the city glowed like a diamond.
“Thirty years old-
I went from a foster kid in the middle of nowhere
to being the so–called ‘Mrs. Johnson.“”
“Yeah, I got humiliated. I got mocked. I got crushed.”
“But still…
my life’s been one hell of a ride.”
I turned from the view.
Bright smile, head held high.
Just like I used to be.
“Johnson-
You’ll never cage me again.”
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