Chapter 2: The Call That Changed the Silence
Part 2 ⬇️
"What did I do?" I said.
"I bought myself a birthday present.
Since no one else did."
Silence.
Then Brad laughed.
Actually laughed.
"Sophie, that is not funny.
That's our savings.
You don't just go spending thousands of dollars on some food truck fantasy without talking to me first."
"The way you talked to me before you upgraded your car?"
He went quiet.
I could still hear the crowd behind him.
Music.
Someone ordering food.
One of the boys saying something and the others laughing.
They were having a great night.
"Put the boys on," I said.
"Sophie—"
"Put them on, Brad."
A shuffle.
Then Pete's voice.
"Mom?
What's going on?"
"Do you know what today is?"
Another pause.
Longer than it should have been.
"...Tuesday?"
I didn't say anything.
I didn't need to.
I heard Pete say something quietly to the others.
Then Mike.
Then Justin.
And then, for the first time all day, I heard three voices go completely silent.
Brad came back on the line.
His tone had shifted.
Softer now.
But not soft enough.
"Look, we'll talk when I get home.
Just…
don't do anything else, okay?"
I looked at the confirmation email sitting open on the computer screen.
"I already did," I said.
And I ended the call.
What I didn't know yet was that Brad's next move would change everything — and not in the way I expected.
---
What does Brad do when he gets home — and what does Sophie say that finally stops him cold?
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