It wasn't the first time I'd been mistreated, but it was the first time I'd chosen to accept it without a fight. "Fine, I'll head home on my own."
I shut the car door and walked off ahead of them. It was rush hour, so I couldn't even catch a cab. As someone who had recently had an abortion, I wandered for an hour in the searing heat to come home.
I was greeted by harsh complaints when I pushed the door open.
"Scarlett, why are you so slow? We've been home for ages."
"We haven't eaten all night. Come on, let's taste your cooking again."
I turned my gaze to Julian and Anne. It was a sweltering summer day and the air conditioning was off because they didn't want the fragile Anne to catch a cold. Julian sat beside her, fanning her with a paper fan.
Despite breaking into a sweat himself, he ignored it entirely and kept fawning over Anne. Sam shouted after seeing I was quiet, "Julian, we're all starving! Tell your wife to cook us something to eat!"
Julian finally looked up. He casually ordered without noticing how pale I was, "Scarlett, go make us something simple to eat and make some soup for Anne. It'll help her recover."