Paid in Full for Family Love novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8

My phone buzzed me awake the next morning

Dozens of missed calls. Texts flooding in. Instagram DMs I was afraid to open.

Jess’s name popped up first.

“Em… are you okay?? Someone posted a video, you’re trending.”

I clicked the link.

Three million views. Four hours old.

The video opened on Mom, Mike, and Jen sitting on concrete floor, bare studs behind them. They were dressed thin. Faces pale. Eyes red.

Mom looked straight into the camera, tears streaming.

“Their father died young,” she said, voice catching. “I raised those two by myself. It wasn’t easy. But I never, I never once made my daughter feel like she came second.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand,

“I grew up in a house where my brothers got everything and I got whatever was left. I swore if I ever had a daughter, she’d never know what that felt like.”

“So I gave her everything. Anything she wanted. I put her first. I babied her. Looking back, I probably neglected my son because she just needed me more.”

Her voice broke into a sob.

“And this is how she repays me. This is what get.”

Mike leaned in, his jaw tight.

“Everyone knows my mom played favorites. Yeah, it stung sometimes. But I’m the oldest. That’s how it goes. You look out for your little sister. You don’t keep score,”

He looked down.

“I thought if we loved her enough, she’d love us back. She’d remember. She’d care.”

His jaw tightened.

Chapter 8

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“I didn’t know love could raise something this cold.”

Jen wiped her eyes.

“My mother-in-law and my husband, they spoiled Emily. Anything she wanted, they got it. Called her every week to check in. Made sure she was warm, she was fed, she was okay. I never said a word.”

She sniffled.

“She came home for Christmas. I’m pregnant and I still waited on her hand and foot. Cooked every meal, made sure she had fresh towels. I didn’t want her to feel like an

outsider in her own family’s house.”

Her voice broke.

“And she did this. Because we went on vacation without her.

She held up photos, the house before. Warm. Finished. Beautiful.

“This was our home. This is what she destroyed.”

Another shot of the bare concrete.

“We didn’t invite her because she had to work. She’s always been so career-focused. We thought she wouldn’t even want to come. We were trying to be considerate!”

Her face crumpled.

“We bent over backwards for her. And now she’s trying to ruin our lives? She trashed our house and she’s taking us to court. I’m about to have a baby. How am I supposed to bring a newborn home to a construction zone!”

The camera swept the room again. Sad music swelled.

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