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A cheat and a leech
Chapter 18 A cheat and a leech
MILLER’S HOME, LOS ANGELES
Emma stood up from the bed staring at the wall blankly, her body seem to fail her. She didn’t realize just how awful of a mother she was until her child left home and never returned. It felt like good riddance to bad rubbish at first, but learning that Noah has an older child outside their marriage who is well taken care of and enjoys the benefits of having a father makes her more miserable.
To satisfy Noah and make him see just how sorry she was for the mistake she committed, she spent twenty two years of her life hating on the daughter she birthed herself. A single tear rolled down her eyes, Noah doesn’t deserve her forgiveness and to make things clear she has to end her relationship with him. Living with him all these years had been walking on egg shells for her. Probably it’s time to be actually free.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
The door to her room clicked open letting in Abigail who staggered in with her heels in her hand. She had gone clubbing last night. “Mom!” She called out slurring.
Kissing her teeth, Emma pushed her to the side when she made an attempt to hug her. “Get off me, you wench. You are just like your father, useless!”
Abigail let out an hysterical laugh. “You think too highly of yourself, mom. Now I am the useless one? I thought I was your favorite child! Why are you so hurt because of what dad did? Didn’t you do the same thing to him?” She jested.
Gritting her teeth, Emma clenched her fist hard resisting the urge to slap some sense into her daughter’s head. Storming out of the room, she made her way to the kitchen. Noah sat in the living room as usual sipping on a cup of coffee.
“Good morning.” He greeted not keeping his eyes off the magazine he had in hand.
She ignored him, trying to keep her rage at bay. Emma shut her eyes tightly as she exhaled loudly. “I want a divorce!” She announced. Noah made no reaction and kept on with what he was doing. “I am sure you heard me correctly, Noah. I want a divorce.”
Noah sniffed, staring up at her with no emotion in his eyes. “I won’t be signing it. We made a vow to be with each other until death do us part. So deal with it.”
“You bastard!” She heaved, throwing a glass at him, but it missed and hit the wall instead. “I will get away from you no matter what!”
“Why are you so pained, Emma? Didn’t you also cheat on me?” He inquired.
“How do you even sit there and try to compare what I did to yours? You were obviously cheating on me long before I got pregnant with Darby. You have a twenty seven year old son, Noah. How dare you try to gaslight me when you did something so despicable!” She yelled at him.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Let’s just say we are even then. There is no need to make a fuss. You should be grateful that I kept you here after all this while. Moreover we have a daughter together that actually belongs to the both of us. I guess that settles it then.”
“I am not going to remain in the same space with a pathetic person like yourself. I will go far away!” Emma threatened.
Noah chuckled dryly, taking off his reading glasses. “Where would you go, Emma? Where? You have no one and you have no money of your own either. I know you want the divorce so bad just so you can own part of my property. But I won’t let that happen, you will remain with me until I am done with you.”
She seethed, screaming in pain. “You don’t own me, and I will leave whenever I want to. And you have practically squandered all your retirement money.”
“Stop fooling yourself. I took you off the streets, Emma. You shouldn’t try to fight for what was never yours. I did love you at first, but then keeping you in my home just felt convenient and since it didn’t disturb me in anyway I didn’t think anything was wrong with letting you be. Don’t try to play smart. Your anger should have dissipated now, it has been over a year since you learnt about my son. Let’s just live in harmony. Huh? Also we both spent the money together, and I still have some properties in check. You can’t leave me now when I can hardly fend much for myself.” He had a devious smirk on his lips.
Burning tears rolled down Emma’s eyes, it’s all her fault that Noah feels unapologetic towards her. She had given him the most part of her life and let him rule her. Years back when she was just nineteen and had been living with her abusive father, her mother had died a long time back from his hands and she was left to struggle hard everyday to live. The night she would have died trying to run away from him, she got saved by Noah and Emma had looked up at him as her savior since then.
He never allowed her to do any kind of work to earn for herself and gave her whatever she needed. Emma in turn ensured to be loyal and submissive to him, she thought he loves her too much and didn’t want her to get stressed. If only she knew it was in order for him to have a strong hold on her. Noah was right about her not having anywhere to go.
Emma hiccuped as she wiped the tears off her face. “You know what’s funny, Noah? I am still fit enough to do whatever I put my heart to. You can’t stop me.”
He scoffed. “You lazy heifer. I wonder who would be stupid enough to employ you. All of that aside, you had better get out of your head and listen good, I need you to get Darby back into this house.”
“What are you talking about?” Emma asked confused. “None of us knows where Darby is, she ran away five years ago. Where exactly will I go looking for her?”
“Well, she isn’t farfetched and she is right here.” Noah replied, turning the magazine cover for her to see.
Taking a step to have a closer look, Emma gasped. “FORBES? That’s Darby?”
“Of course and the last time I checked, she went to school and was able to grow because of the favor I rendered her. She has to come back home and apologize for everything she did. I am glad she still uses my surname, everyone has to know that I have a celebrity for a daughter and not the pathetic one in there.” Noah glanced at the stairs in irritation.
Emma let out a dry chuckle. “Have you always been this unreasonable? Did you just claim Darby to be your daughter? After years of ignoring her. And what money did you spend on her upkeep? She practically went to school free, because of how brilliant she was. Darby went to school on scholarship. So what part did you play?”
He looked unfazed. “My name and my roof. Also I was kind enough to not be too harsh and make her commit suicide. She was only able to make it this far because of my input. Bring her back here as soon as you can. I need to know what she has been up to.”
She stared in disbelief. “What would you gain from this? Even though you lost your major savings in the wrong investment. It’s not like you don’t have enough money to care for yourself. Or is this just you rubbing your ego?”
“Why are you so slow to things? Darby seems like my only option to leech on and live the life I have always wanted.” He paused, standing up tall with an intimidating glare in his eyes. Emma staggered backwards. “If you know what is good for yourself, you will find a way to bring her back. She is just an emotional fool like you. I am sure if you play nice, she would fall for it hook, line and sinker. I am counting on you.” Noah grinned parting her shoulder.
He walked upstairs whistling to himself leaving Emma dumbfounded.