Chapter 5 - LINDA'S VERSION OF LOVE
Linda came to Emily’s apartment.
No Robert.
No Jason.
She brought food.
Emily almost laughed.
“You think casserole fixes forgery?”
Linda flinched.
“I didn’t know about signatures.”
“Did you know about the ring?”
“Yes.”
There.
Emily looked away.
Linda continued:
“Your father said it would help Jason.”
“So you let them call me up without asking?”
“I thought you’d play along.”
“Why?”
Linda hesitated.
“Because you always do.”
That sentence landed harder than expected.
Emily stared.
Linda began crying.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
No insult.
Just truth.
Then Linda said:
“Jason needs this.”
Emily laughed.
“Needs what?”
“Sponsors. Momentum. A real chance.”
“And I didn’t?”
Linda looked ashamed.
Emily continued:
“When I was twenty-two, Dad told me women’s boxing was too hard to sell.”
Linda whispered:
“Things were different.”
“They were.”
Then:
“But you agreed with him.”
Linda had always framed favoritism as practicality.
Jason got investment because:
male division drew crowds.
Jason got equipment because:
he had professional upside.
Jason got travel because:
sponsors asked for him.
Emily got told:
be supportive.
Then Linda said:
“You were always stronger.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
May you like
“That’s why you gave me less?”
Linda had no answer.
