PART 3: The Eviction Notice
At 6:00 a.m., leaving Emily safely asleep under the watchful eye of the hospital staff, I returned to the apartment.
When I walked inside, the living room was still a disaster zone. But now, Teresa was asleep on the couch, snoring loudly, while my sisters were asleep in the guest bedrooms. They hadn't cleaned a single plate. They hadn't called to check on Emily. They didn't care if my child lived or died, as long as the internet bill was paid.
I walked to the kitchen, grabbed a massive black trash bag, and walked into the living room.
I kicked the coffee table hard. The pizza boxes rattled, and a half-empty soda spilled onto the carpet.
Teresa jolted awake, blinking wildly. "Ethan! What is wrong with you? I have a heart condition, you can't scare me like that!"
Brittany and Kayla stumbled out of their rooms, yawning and complaining about the noise.
"Pack your things," I said, my voice dead and emotionless.
"What?" Lily asked, rubbing her eyes. "It's six in the morning. Where's Emily? Is she still playing sick at the hospital?"
"You have one hour," I said, pulling out a stack of legal documents I had printed from the warehouse office before coming home. "This is a formal revocation of tenancy. I am the sole leaseholder of this apartment. The landlord has already been notified. The locks are being changed at noon."
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Teresa stood up, her face turning purple with rage. "You can't throw your mother and sisters out! We are your family, Ethan! That girl has turned you against us! She's a weak, fragile little nobody who wants to isolate you from the people who raised you!"
"The people who raised me wouldn't force an eight-months-pregnant woman to scrub their filthy dishes until her body shook," I yelled, my voice shaking with fury. "The people who loved me wouldn't call my wife a freeloader while eating food bought with my sweat and blood! You have one hour. If you are not gone, the police will escort you out as trespassers."
