They Destroyed Me, Then Begged Me to Come Back Chapter 03

They Destroyed Me, Then Begged Me to Come Back Chapter 03

I turned my head, the pillow next to mine was empty.

The door was locked, exactly the way I’d left it the night before.

No one had come in.

My phone buzzed.

A message from my therapist.

[Josephine, come see me. Your last set of results was concerning. Has something happened recently?]

I splashed water on my face and got dressed.

Even after a full night’s sleep, I was still exhausted down to the bone.

Walking through the hospital corridor, a familiar voice stopped me cold.

“Josephine!”

I turned.

Bianca was staring at me.

“It’s really you!”

I watched, stunned, as she ran toward me.

Her skin was flawless. Sleek dark hair over a beige cashmere sweater.

She didn’t look like a woman in her mid-twenties at all.

If anything, she looked exactly like she had in high school.

“I— I came to apologize to you.”

She twisted the strap of her Hermès bag in her hands.

“I know everything now, about yesterday.”

“I’m so sorry. I was young. I didn’t know any better.”

I heard my own voice shake.

“Is that supposed to erase ten years with one ‘I didn’t know any better’?”

“Then— then what would make you forgive me? Do you want me on my knees?”

And she actually dropped to her knees, right there in the hallway.

People walking by turned to stare.

“Josephine, I really do know I was wrong.”

“I’ve regretted it every year since. All the time I’ve spent with Weston, I’ve thought about you, felt sick about it.”

“It’s been ten years. Can’t you just let it go? We can all just live our lives, can’t we?”

There it was again.

Abusers always seem to believe that time will dilute the pain enough that one apology can wash it all away.

“No.”

My fists were shaking.

“Josephine…”

Her eyes went red.

“Are you really going to hold onto the past forever?”

“We’ve both built lives now. Weston and I have a son together. Are you going to drag up old history and make everyone around you miserable?”

“Bianca Whitmore.” I gritted my teeth. “You should leave. Right now. Before I do something I can’t take back.”

I turned and walked fast toward the psychiatric wing.

“Josephine Callahan!”

Bianca shouted my full name behind me.

The next second, my arm was yanked back, hard.

I stumbled, barely caught myself.

But Bianca let out a shriek and went down, hard.

“Bianca!”

Weston’s voice rang out.

I saw him running toward her, pulling her into his arms.

Crack! A slap landed across my face.

I turned.

Mom was there, out of breath, eyes red, finger pointed at me.

“How could you be so cruel! She’s barely pregnant, the fetus isn’t even stable yet, and you couldn’t wait to chase her all the way to the hospital just to kill her and her unborn child!”

I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. “She’s pregnant again?”

“Don’t act surprised.”

Weston looked at me, ice-cold.

“You only came here because you already knew, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t get a word out.

Mom laughed, cold and bitter.

“I hid it so carefully to stop you from going crazy. And somehow, you still found out.”

“You think I wouldn’t go crazy if you just didn’t tell me?!”

Something in me finally snapped.

“Mom! I’m your daughter! Why are you doing this to me too!”

“Josephine!”

Unexpectedly, it was Bianca who rushed forward and stepped in front of Mom.

“Josephine, I’m the one who wronged you. If you have to hate someone, hate me!”