Justin's voice cut through the room, scolding. "Don't ever say things like that again. No matter what, she's still your mother."
"But I don't like her. She's always bossing me around. She won't let me go to the amusement park, won't let me eat the good stuff. Mommy Joy lets me eat anything I want, and she promised to take me to the amusement park."
Justin sighed. "Your mother does go a little too far."
My hands curled into fists at that.
He knew perfectly well I kept our son in line for his own good. Instead of defending me, he echoed our boy and called me harsh.
Then came Joy's voice. "Marvin wants to be with me that badly?"
"Mm. I love Mommy Joy the most. I want to be with Mommy Joy forever."
"I want to be with you forever too, sweetheart. But I'm not your daddy's wife. Your mommy is. Now that she's back, I'll have to leave soon."
"No. I don't want Mommy Joy to leave. I want Mommy Joy to marry Daddy and be my mommy. I'll go make stinky Mommy and Daddy get divorced."
The next moment Marvin came charging into the room, his small hands beating against me.
"Get up. I don't want you for a mommy. I want you to divorce Daddy."
I looked at him, and the pain in my eyes drained away little by little, hardening into something cold.
This was the son I had raised with my own hands for eight years.
An ungrateful little wretch.
"Out!"
The word came out of me like a roar.
It startled him, and he burst into wailing sobs.
Justin and Joy rushed in a heartbeat later.
"Marvin!" Joy gasped at the sight of him crying his heart out and quickly pulled him into her arms.
Justin glared at me, his face livid. "He's just a child. Whatever you're angry about, you shouldn't be taking it out on him."
I threw it right back, cold. "So you'd rather I take it out on you?"
"You—"
Marvin only cried harder.
"I don't like stinky Mommy. She yelled at me, she told me to get out. Daddy, make her leave, I don't want to see her anymore."
Justin looked at Marvin, then at me. "Looks like you really do need some time alone to cool off."
I pushed back the blanket and forced my weak body upright. "You don't have to make me leave. I'll go on my own."
That was when Joy stepped in, playing the good one. "What are the two of you doing? You'd really blow up a marriage over something a kid blurted out?"
Justin said nothing. He pressed his lips together hard.
My face stayed calm. I wasn't the one breaking up this marriage. There was simply no place left for me in this home. The two of them, father and son, didn't want me.
I looked at the flyer on the nightstand. Maybe it was time I lived a different kind of life.
"All right." Joy handed Marvin over to Justin. "Go make him something to eat. I'll talk to her."
Justin nodded, and the moment he carried Marvin out, Joy's whole expression changed.
"How pitiful. Your husband doesn't love you, your own son doesn't want you. If I were you, I'd go kill myself right now."
"So I'd be clearing the way for you?" I gave a cold laugh.
Joy smiled. "I don't need you to clear anything. Your place is already mine. Soon Justin will be my husband, and your son will be calling me his mother."
My hands clenched into the sheets, my voice ice. "Are you done? If you're done, get out."
Joy leaned in close. "You're not still dreaming you'll be the lady of this house, are you? Wake up. There's been no place for you here for a long time. Look at the state of you—you make me sick."
With that she grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me off the bed.
The pain shot through me. "Let go."
