Stay With Me, Use Me, And Even Kick Me Out - Chapter 7

Jessica, not entirely foolish, asked, “What if I pay you and you still keep Mark locked up?”

I tapped the paper. “You don’t have to pay now. Just sign this promissory note. Six months to pay it back.”

It wasn’t a difficult decision. She signed. “When will they release Mark?”

“After my leg heals.” He would pay for what he did. A few days later, John, hearing about Mark’s arrest, begged to see me. I didn’t want to see the man who murdered my parents. But after a day, I agreed.

He looked decades older. Tears filled his eyes. “Sarah…”

“Don’t.” I painfully shifted in my chair. “What do you want?”

“Mary and I… we messed up. We’re sorry. But Mark didn’t know anything. If we… if we’re gone, he’s all the family you have left.”

My lifelong sentimentality, the “weakness” my father had warned me about, surfaced. “He may not have known about the poison, but he sure knew how to swing that pipe.”

I gestured to my cast. “He wasn’t exactly thinking about family then.”

John fell to his knees. “Sarah, please. For old times‘ sake, for the good times, let Mark go. He’s not built for jail. He’s got a baby coming. He’ll lose his job. How will they live?”

I looked away, silent.

John’s voice dropped to a desperate rasp. “You know about the poison…you know about your parents.”

I met his gaze.

“Get Mark released, and I’ll tell the cops everything. It’s been years. Without my confession, they’ll never prove a thing.”

“How can I trust you?” Just like Jessica, I didn’t believe he’d actually do it. The poisoning would get him a few years. Murder was a different ballgame.

“There was someone else… someone involved. She has proof.” The friend he’d mentioned to Mary.

I considered it. “Deal.”

A week later, Mark was free. He looked broken, haunted. I heard he was having panic attacks, erratic behavior. He’d always been coddled.

Spoiled rotten. A classic case of too much love ruining a child. John confessed to poisoning my parents, taking full responsibility. But Mary, spineless, crumbled under questioning and spilled everything.

A year later, along with their accomplice, the woman who’d supplied the poison, they were all convicted. I sobbed as I left the courthouse. I’d finally gotten justice for my parents.

I quit my job. Corporate life wasn’t for me. Using the money my parents had left, I started my own company. Two years later, I opened a branch office.

That’s where I saw Jessica. I almost didn’t recognize her. She’d gained weight, aged drastically. Her face was lined and scarred. She was applying for a cleaning job, despite her education.

HR told me they were hesitant to hire her but felt bad for her. That’s how I learned the rest. After the lobster incident, doctors advised Jessica to terminate; the poison could cause birth defects.

She refused. The baby was born with cerebral palsy. The stress broke Mark. He had a mental breakdown shortly after his release and was institutionalized. He still hadn’t recovered.

Jessica was drowning in medical bills for both recovered. Jessica was drowning in medical bills for both her child and her husband. Years out of the workforce, with no experience and constant need for time off, she couldn’t hold down a job.

I didn’t meet with her. I told HR to give her an office job, something with a decent salary. The rest was up to her. Leaving the office, the sunlight was dazzling.

It felt like a reflection of the bright future that finally lay ahead.