Chapter 12

Jo was livid when she heard this.

She grabbed my mom by the hair and slapped her hard across the face. “Repayment? Hasn’t she already paid enough?

“Emily told me you handed her over to Steve. That should have been the end of it.

“And now you’re here, trying to guilt-trip her with this ‘debt’? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

My mom was stunned and stammered, “Lily…”

But Jo didn’t let her finish and slapped her again. “If you dare to bother Emily again, I swear I’ll knock your teeth out!”

After a few more slaps, my mom’s face was red and swollen, and she couldn’t get another word out.

Jo then shoved her out the door and added a few more words to the sign: “No entry for Chris Carter or the three dogs of the York family!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit.

Jo gently rubbed my back and said with a distant look, “Emily, you really are my little Emily.”

……

Before I was three, I lived in an orphanage, and there was an older girl who always took care of m