“I’m not leaving,” she said. “I’m choosing myself.”
They left.
“You stay as long as you need,” Ethan said softly.
“No pressure, no judgment,” Marcus added. “And we’ll handle anything that needs to be handled.”
Emily felt tears but this time, they were tears of relief.
That night, standing in a warm guest room above the city lights, holding her babies close, Emily realized she didn’t know what her future would look like.
But she knew one truth:
She would never again let anyone treat her like an afterthought.