My family turned my failure into a public joke, so I waited until they realized the joke was on them.

serious?” Emily asked.

Daniel said nothing.

Finally, he muttered, “I thought it was just family drama.”

“No,” Emily replied calmly. “That’s just what people call cruelty when they don’t want to admit they watched it happen.”

He apologized twice. Emily believed he regretted being exposed.

She did not believe he regretted hurting her.

So she hung up.

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