Chapter 3
The doorbell rang. I thought my pizza was here.
Instead, the door got kicked in.
Chad and Karen.
Chad stormed in, bellowing, “Amy, you lying
witch! Where’s my wife?!”
“You won’t answer your phone, won’t reply to
texts. Are you dragging Brittany into some
shady stuff again?!”
Karen chimed in with a fake–sweet tone, “Amy,
honey, you’re getting up there in years and still
<
single. Are you sure everything’s okay with
you?”
Seeing their accusatory faces, I clenched my
fists.
Normally, I’d give them a piece of my mind. But
I knew what that led to.
I needed to play it cool.
I took a deep breath and forced a smile.
“Brittany’s supposed to be resting at home,
isn’t she? I have no idea where she is.”
Last time around, Brittany said she was at my
house when she went to the bar.
After the miscarriage, her husband went to my
house and beat me to death, without listening
to me.
<
This time, I tried to explain.
But seeing Chad, I knew I was wrong.
He’d always believe I was a bad influence.
Brittany made sure of it.
Chad killed me because he was finally fed up.
Karen, seeing I wouldn’t talk, started in.
“Amy, Brittany’s pregnant. She’s supposed to
be resting. She said she was coming here for
chili, but it’s almost ten, and she’s not home.
Her phone’s dead.”
“Brittany doesn’t lie. She said she was here. We
know you’re close, but you can’t just hold her
hostage.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
く
“Brittany’s a grown woman. If she was here,
she’d be gone by now. Am I supposed to be
holding her against her will?”
“And you barging in here is breaking and
entering. Don’t you think I should call the
cops?”
Before I could finish, Chad backhanded me.
Chad was a security guard for our complex. He
was tall and strong, and had once taken down a
stray dog.
His hit knocked me senseless.
Seeing I was quiet, he pulled out his phone and
started recording.
“Turns out there’s a freak in our complex. She
has issues and wants to ruin my wife. If nobody
else will stop her, I will!”
<
Chad posted it to the building’s Facebook
group.
Everyone started asking what was going on.
Chad started filming while talking.
“This woman is crazy! My wife is conservative
and trusts her. But she wants to hurt my wife,
and told her to stay out at night!”
“I thought she’d stop after Brittany got
pregnant, but she’s been hiding Brittany away
for dinner! I can’t get in touch with my wife, and
this freak is acting shady. Tell me what’s
happening!”
In the video, Chad was emotional. He looked
like he was scared for his wife.
A lot of people in the group knew Chad had
taken down the stray dog. They started to feel
<
bad for him.
)
[A lot of people have been ruined by friends!]
[Yeah! If my girl had a friend like that, I’d break her legs!]
[She’s an adult, but so immature. How can she
act like this?]
[Brittany’s preggers! That’s so dangerous! Little
Chad, ask where she is. Maybe she got sent to Mexico.]
Hearing Mexico, Chad got worried. He started a
Facebook Live.
People who had been watching the group
flooded the Live.
Chad was excited by the numbers, and shoved
the camera in my face.
୮
“You little witch, tell me where my wife is, or I’m
gonna teach you a lesson!”
Karen started in, finding a broom to hand to
Chad.
“Son, use this. She’ll talk!”
I stared at Chad.
“Brittany isn’t here. I never told her to do
anything. Get out of my house, or I’m calling the
cops for trespassing!”
I thought Chad would get scared, but he got
more excited.
“You think I’m scared? I’m not scared of
anything!”
He swung his broom, hitting a vase off of my
bookshelf.
<
As it fell, it broke into two pieces.
On the Live, someone with an antique icon
freaked out.
[Little Chad, what you broke looks like an
ancient piece. That’s a million dollars.]
Chad froze. Then he acted like he didn’t care.
“A million dollars? Maybe it was fake, or a gift
from her sugar daddy. How could a girl buy
something like that?”
Chad swung the broom at the shelf again.
Chad was a security guard who always kissed
up to others. He hated rich people.
He said the girl had to be paid off, or she
wouldn’t be able to afford it.
?
A lot of the people in the group were like Chad.
They cheered him on, and told him to break
more things.
I tried to stop him.
“Chad, Brittany’s not here. I don’t know where
she went. Call the cops, don’t go crazy here!”
“If you don’t stop, I’m calling the cops!”
Some people in the Live were using their real
names. They got quiet.
But some people still wanted to watch the
show.
Chad was seeing red. He thought I was hiding
Brittany.
He waved his broom.
<
11:27
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“Go ahead. I want you to call the cops, so they
can arrest you. Then Brittany won’t hang out
with you!”
The number of viewers stayed high, but nobody
said anything.
Then someone left a comment.
[I saw this girl come home late at night. She’s
always getting picked up by fancy cars! She
was hugging the old guy driving the car! She’s up to something.]
