Chapter 2 - The Silent HarborThe boat ride back to the mainland was the longest thirty minutes of Emily’s life. Rachel remained locked inside the lower cabin, refusing to come out or look at Caleb when he tried to knock on the glass door. Caleb spent the entire journey standing near the stern, looking like a man walking to his own execution, while passengers whispered behind his back.
When the vessel finally docked and the gangplank dropped, Rachel was the very first person off the boat. She marched down the wooden pier without looking back once, her white shorts and black swimsuit a sharp contrast against the gray docks.
Emily walked down at a slow, deliberate pace. Caleb hovered nervously a few paces behind her like a guilty shadow.
"Emily, please, let me drive you home. We can talk in the car," Caleb pleaded as they reached the parking lot.
Emily stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. The sun beat down on them, but she felt entirely numb. "Drive me home? To the house where you sleep in our bed every night after spending your weekends playing a single man with another woman? I don't think so, Caleb."
"Where are you going to go?" he asked, genuine panic flashing across his face.
"That," Emily said coldly, "is no longer your concern."
Without waiting for another word, Emily pulled out her phone, opened a rideshare app, and requested a car. She refused to get into Caleb's car, refusing to let him control the narrative for even one more second. As she waited by the curb, Caleb stood helplessly by his sedan, trapped in the nightmare of his own making.
When her ride arrived, Emily slid into the backseat, gave the driver her sister Sarah's address, and watched through the tinted window as Caleb stood alone in the parking lot, staring down at his phone as it undoubtedly began to buzz with angry texts and missed calls from Rachel.
Twenty minutes later, Emily stepped through Sarah’s front door. The moment the lock clicked shut behind her, the adrenaline and forced composure that had carried her through the boat tour completely collapsed. Her knees buckled, and she slid down the entryway wall, gasping for air as a torrent of hot, furious tears finally broke free.
Sarah, who had been sitting in the kitchen with a laptop, dropped her mug and rushed over, dropping to her knees beside her sister.
"Emily! Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?" Sarah gasped, wrapping her arms around Emily's shaking shoulders.
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It took a few agonizing moments for Emily to catch her breath. Between ragged sobs, she looked up at her sister, her eyes burning with a mix of heartbreak and pure vengeance.
"He wasn't seasick, Sarah," Emily choked out, her voice trembling with rage. "He was never seasick."
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