“Why do they have to wait unti someone is physically hurt to put an end to this stuff? Hell, they ought to be persecuting him, because he caused me to go into premature labor and deliver our boys early. He endangered their health as well as mine!”
She jumped up and started to walk to the door, but she only got a few steps before Benjamin pulled her back to him.
“Where are you going?”
“To beat the ever–loving fucking hell out of him! I have had enough of this shit, this needs to end, now.”
“Sweetie,” Benjamin hushed her, and his hand went to her head. He pushed her hair back and made her look him in the eyes. “Calm down, love, and let me deal with this. Don’t you worry; he’s not getting away with anything.”
She shook her head in frustration, and let out a growl before breaking down and crying in Benjamin’s arms. He held her to him as her inner voice repeated the same thing over and over again.
‘Come on, Pandora. Pull yourself together, he only wins if you let him break you.‘
She kissed Benjamin’s chest and pulled away from him. She wiped her face as Emily handed her a box of tissues.
“Look at me, Pandora,” she said and turned Pandora to her. “At school, I was a bitch.” She turned to Benjamín. “You really have no idea how bad I was. I never hit anyone, but I lashed out in other ways. My verbal attacks were disgusting, and I have no excuse for my past behavior.”
Her eyes returned to Pandora. “You always took everything I said, and it never seemed to get to you. I know I hurt you, I’m not that stupid, but you never allowed my words to change who you were inside. I think that’s what pissed me off and made me want to get at you even more. Between my need to get to others and the fact that my parents always allowed me just to get away with my behavior, I was terrible.”
“My abusive ex–boyfriend–what he did to me, in a way, was my just deserts.”
Pandora shook her head. No woman–Pandora didn’t care how stuck up, bitchy, or nasty they were–deserved to be beaten. Emily nodded as if she could hear what Pandora was thinking.
“I know, Pandora, but he started bitching at me. The things he said, the way he made me feel, were in some ways worse than the broken bones he gave me. I hated myself, hated my voice, the way I walked, the way I ate. I hated who I was, but I couldn’t change
me.”
Emily stopped and cleared her throat. “I had already grown up by then, but that showed me just how bad I had been in school. I made a promise to myself that I would change. When I have children I will love them enough to tell them they are wrong, and won’t let them get away with treating others the way I did. I will forever instill in anyone I can that no one has the right to verbally abuse another.”
She again stopped and gave Pandora a sad look. “When my ex was talking down to me, my mind always seemed to go to you and Derrik. I could see so much of how Derrik behaved not just to you, but how he was with me, in that man’s actions. I felt sad for you because my relationship was new, but yours was a longer one. When heard you were divorced, I celebrated your freedom.”
She pulled her brows together and Benjamin chuckled, making her look at him. “She did, she made me join her only saying an old friend had been set free from a bad situation.”
“This is what he’s doing now; he’s trying hard to break you. Derrik is not stupid. He knows a DNA test will be needed, and he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. He’s just pissed that you have not been doing what he wants you to do, and I blame Miriam. That woman gives him money every month like he’s still a teenager. God, even I had to work when I was younger.”
“Miriam does what?” Pandora asked, interrupting her.
1/2
Chapter 98
“You didn’t know his mother gives him between five hundred and a thousand dollars each month and has done so since he was fourteen?” She shook her head just feeling angrier. “It’s why they had to sell the diner.”
“You’re joking, right?” she gasp. Why wasn’t she told that was the reason?
Emily just sighed and shook her head. “She is partially to blame. She raised a self–centered asshole. I know my sins and I have grown up and tried hard to repent and atone for what I had done. As for Derrik, I don’t ever see him owning up to his mistakes. But, Pandora, stay strong and let Benjamin handle this. He and his lawyer dealt with my ex, and I’m just a friend. He lo- Emily clapped her mouth shut and then cleared her throat.
“You’re his wife. Believe me when I say Derrik is not going to know what hit him.”
7
Pandora let out a long breath and nodded at Emily. She looked at Benjamin and raised her brow at him. “I want him crying in a fetal position!”
Benjamin grinned and nodded. “I’ll be sure to make that happen.”
“Thank you,” Pandora said and looked back at Emily. “I would never have thought the girl that made my school years hell would be the person who lends me strength now.”
“No problem and I’ll be here for you, and help in any way I can. For now, I’m off to work, and I’ll call in a few favors to see if I can
find out where the worm is at.”
Emily walked out the front door as Benjamin pulled her back to the couch. They just sat down when Jack started to cry. She rubbed her head but before she could stand up, Benjamin was there, picking him up from the bassinet.
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