Page 81 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

He sighed again. “I don’t understand where this nonsense is coming from. I have opened doors and given you opportunities that most people would kill for.”

I jabbed a finger through my hair. “I never asked for any of it. You wanted those things, not me.”

“I warned you before what would happen. Don’t think for one second that I won’t follow through with it.”

My jaw clenched. “Stop threatening me.”

“If you don’t come back by the end of this week, your little vacation will be over.”

My hand trembled as I held the phone up to my ear. “Then I guess we have a problem, because I’m not coming back.”

“I am not going to stand by while you throw your life away and everything I’ve worked for. It’s time for you to do the right thing, like you did before.”

My hand was shaking so badly, I could barely hold the phone. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. I am staying put, and I’m going to marry Brooks, whether you like it or not.”

I could hear his heavy breathing on the other end. He was about to explode. “Think again. I will ruin that man’s reputation so fast, he won’t be able to get a job fixing the siding on a garden shed.”

A cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck. “You leave him alone.”

“You might want to reconsider because you won’t like how this ends.”

This was his way of intimidating me. He couldn’t bully me into coming home, so he was using the only tool he had left.

The same one he used before. The difference was that I wasn’t giving in this time.

I pressed my lips into a thin line, trying to hold it all together. “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

“You should be.”

My heart raced so damn hard; I could feel my pulse in my ears. “If you so much as touch him or try to make good on any of those threats, you will regret it.”

And then, without waiting for another word, I ended the call.

I dropped the phone on the couch and exhaled a long, drawn-out breath through my nose.

It was time he realized I wasn’t the same girl who let him decide everything for me. I was done selling my soul to make him look good.

My phone buzzed again. I picked it up and was ready to chuck it across the room when I saw the caller ID. It was Brooks’ grandfather, Marty.

“Hello.”

“Harlow, I’m sorry to bother you.” Marty’s frail voice at the end of the line made my stomach clench.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not feeling so great. The boys are all on a fishing trip today, and I can’t get a hold of my daughter-in-law.”

I moved to the mudroom to find my shoes. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ve been throwing up since this morning and feel unsteady on my feet.”

My pulse quickened. “Where are you now?”

“In my room.” He sounded like he was having trouble breathing.

I grabbed my keys off the hook by the door. “Can you call for a nurse?”

“They will want to bring me to the hospital, and I don’t want to go.”

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