‘Sweetheart, this house was meant for us. Your father bought it for our family. Right?’ ‘I guess,’ Emma responded, blinking slowly.
‘Don’t you think it makes sense that I handle it now? If you sign those papers, I can sell this place and put us somewhere better,’ Melissa continued, flailing her arms. ‘Somewhere new and glamorous. You don’t have to stay stuck here with this junk in this small town. You and I could finally live the life we deserve.’
The room went dead quiet. I realized that Melissa’s motives were not to reconnect with her girl but to take from her. Emma’s hands trembled as she held the documents. But her voice was steady when she spoke.
‘You think a dress makes you my mother? You think now you deserve this house that Grandma tried her best to pay for and upgrade all these years, all while raising me? Alone?’
‘Sweetheart, that’s not—”
‘You left me,’ my granddaughter shouted. ‘And now you probably need money to keep up whatever charade you have going on. But I see the truth clearly, and let me tell you, you came to the wrong place. This is my house. I’m already 18. Grandma is all the family I need. And this house is mine and hers!’
With those words, Emma tore the papers to shreds. As she stared at the pieces on our floor, Melissa’s smile collapsed. Rage twisted her features into something ugly. ‘Ungrateful brat,’ she hissed, snatching up her purse. ‘You’ll regret this when you’re stuck in your 20s with no money and taking care of a dying old woman.’
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