Chapter 3 - The Morning After
The sun rose over the desolate highway,
painting the sky in hues of orange and pink.
I had not slept a single minute,
my mind racing through a thousand different scenarios,
each one ending with Jason and Amber paying for what they did.
My phone was still buzzing,
over fifty missed calls from Jason,
twenty from Amber,
and a few from my mother.
I realized I had to face the reality of the situation,
I could not hide in this motel room forever.
I picked up the phone,
my thumb hovering over my mother's contact name,
before I finally pressed the call button.
She answered on the first ring,
her voice panicked and breathless.
"Rachel,
where are you,
Jason called me crying,
he said you left in the middle of the night."
I closed my eyes,
the sound of her voice bringing a fresh wave of tears to my eyes.
"Mom,"
I said,
my voice surprisingly steady,
"Jason is a liar,
and Amber has been sleeping with him."
There was a dead silence on the other end of the line,
a heavy pause that stretched on for what felt like an eternity.
"What?"
she finally whispered,
the shock vibrating through the speaker.
"I caught them together,
in the guest room,
on our wedding night,"
I explained,
the words tasting like poison on my tongue.
"But that is not the worst part,
Mom,
he is trying to steal my money,
all the money you and Dad gave me for the house."
My mother gasped,
the protective instinct of a parent taking over her shock.
"Where are you right now?"
she demanded,
her tone shifting from confusion to absolute fury.
"I am safe,
I am at a motel off the highway,
but I need Dad to call his lawyer friend,
Mr. Harrison,
right away."
"I am on it,
honey,
do not talk to Jason,
do not tell him where you are,
we will destroy that boy."
I hung up the phone,
a small sliver of relief washing over me.
I was not alone in this fight,
I had my family,
and I had the truth locked safely in the cloud.
I stood up,
smoothing out the wrinkles in my pajamas,
and realized I needed clothes,
I needed coffee,
and I needed a plan.
I walked out of the room,
the morning air crisp and cool,
and headed toward the gas station next door.
The clerk eyed me suspiciously,
probably because I was wearing silk pajamas at seven in the morning,
but I ignored him and grabbed a black coffee.
As I sipped the bitter liquid,
I watched the cars speed down the highway,
each one moving forward,
each one leaving the past behind.
Jason thought he had trapped me,
May you like
he thought the marriage license was a lock on my cage,
but he was about to learn that I possessed the key all along.
