I came home from college. You never even asked me why I was a wreck. You just put me in that first miserable therapy center and forgot about me. I was raped, and I couldn’t tell you because—”
“What did you do?” Victoria’s tone turned as cold as ice. “Go out to a bar and go home with the wrong guy?”
“That’s exactly why I couldn’t tell you,” Emma said. “I knew you’d blame me and call me stupid, which I was for trusting my friend.” She went on to tell her the whole story. “Trusting him is on me. But you let me think I was delicate and hid the way the world worked from me, so that’s on you. I was raped and humiliated, and I repressed the memories rather than tell you, and now I’m not leaving this trailer park. I intend to live here the rest of my life.”
“You’ve always been a weakling like your father, who, by the way, has filed for a divorce from me, and just so you know, my lawyers will be crushing that lawyer that Sophie hired. I’ll fight you to the end for the money. If you want to be your own boss, then you can find your own money,” Victoria hissed into the phone.
“Frankly, I don’t know why Daddy has stayed with you as long as he has. Did you finally drive him as crazy as you tried to do with me?” Emma could hardly believe that she was standing up to her mother, but it felt damn fine.
“Don’t be curt with me.” Victoria had gone from cold to demanding. “I took him out of the gutter and gave him a good life, but I’m glad he’s filed. I would have done it right after my mother died, but well”—she paused—“I wanted you to have a father.”
“I’m calling bullshit on that, Mother. I lived in that house. You didn’t give a good hot damn about Daddy—or me, for that matter,” Emma said.
“Don’t you use that kind of language with me,” Victoria growled.
Usually, when her mother lowered her voice, it meant that she was really angry, and Emma went into a panic mode. That was when she tried to fix whatever she’d done wrong, and as usual, she felt her chest begin to tighten. She made herself breathe and remember that she was strong, and she had a good future ahead of her like Filly said.
“It’s the truth, Mother. I’ve been a bother to you from the day I was born, maybe even before, so why would you want me to come back to Dallas now?” Emma asked.
“It’s where you belong,” Victoria said. “My daughter doesn’t live in a hovel like this. What would I ever tell my friends? And you can tell Sophie to call off that damned lawyer. My name was on those accounts, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“You can tell your friends that I’m alive and happy and starting to make a name for myself in the art world. I sold two paintings last week, and that should pay the rent on this trailer after July and buy whatever food I need. And, Mother, I’ll face you in court if I have to over the money that is mine. I don’t give a damn about the company, but the money that my grandmother left me is mine. I’m just not afraid of you anymore.” She was stretching the truth. Those two paintings might not sell for months, but Victoria didn’t need to know that. “I really don’t care what people think of me anymore, Mother. Not even you. Sophie has shown me that I can make my own decisions and my own way now. And I got far enough away from your control to remember those repressed memories. I’m dealing with them without institutions or therapists, and I’m getting stronger every day.”
“You should have been smarter than to go with that kid to the apartment of someone I didn’t know. You’ve always been gullible, just like Wyatt. Sophie has bewitched you, just like Rebel did Wyatt all those years ago.”
“Why are you like this?” Emma asked. She could hear her mother tapping her foot on the hardwood floor of her office.
“Like what?” Victoria tapped her foot.
The tapping of the foot was one of her last resorts to bend Emma to her will. It meant time was running out, and Emma had better agree to do whatever Victoria wanted her to do.