Chapter 6: The Final Goodbye

The next day, Mrs. Hartman showed up unexpectedly. She asked about Maddie with polite indifference, then got right to the point.

She breezed in, pearls flashing, her perfume arriving a second before she did. She sat on the armchair’s edge like it was her throne.

"You know about Jason’s press conference, right?"

Her eyebrow arched, already knowing the answer. Her voice was cool—like a country club invitation you couldn’t refuse.

I nodded. No point pretending.

Mrs. Hartman smiled, clearly satisfied. "I didn’t expect Jason to really do it this time. Honestly, there are no secrets in this world. Over the years, rumors have come and gone, but Jason always ignored them. Never clarified."

She smoothed her skirt, voice lowering. "The neighbors gossip, but Jason never cared. You know how men like him are."

She looked at me, a glint in her eye. "Who would’ve thought, as soon as he heard about Morgan’s divorce, he immediately clarified the marriage with you."

Her words stung. I tried not to react, but my hands curled in my lap.

She sighed, almost theatrically. "But I never thought he wouldn’t even acknowledge Maddie. This kid is really stubborn—he’s liked Morgan since his teens, until she married. When he agreed to be with you, I thought he’d let go."

Her head tilted, her eyes softening in mock pity. I realized then how little she’d ever really seen me.

I sat in silence, the room feeling distant, her words echoing in my mind. I kept my face blank, refusing to let her see the hurt.

She was right. Jason never clarified rumors before. This was the first time.

I remembered every whispered comment at brunch, every lingering look. For years, he’d said nothing. Why now?

Morgan—Mrs. Hartman’s favorite candidate for daughter-in-law—had always seemed a world away. I never knew Jason loved her for so long. I was just the fallback, a compromise when Grandpa Joe asked him to settle down.

It was a bitter truth. I was always second best.

"Emily."

Her voice snapped me back. I looked up, wary.

Mrs. Hartman smiled, patting my hand. "You know you don’t have a ring or a name here, Emily. But Maddie? You want her growing up like that?"

Her hand was cold, her touch fleeting. The question lingered. Maddie deserved better than what I’d accepted for myself.

Mrs. Hartman left. The house grew quiet. Bare branches cast long shadows across the patio. The autumn wind rattled the windows. I watched the last of the roses fall, thinking of all the things that wouldn’t survive the winter.

I pulled out my phone, read his message again and again: "If you’re willing, from now on, Maddie will be my only child."

The words blurred as tears fell. I wanted to believe they meant something, that promises could undo years of neglect. But they couldn’t.

As tears slowly fell, I replied to Luke Henderson: "Come pick me up. I don’t want to stay in the Hartman house anymore."

The send button glowed blue in the dark. This time, I didn’t look back.