Lucas shifted in his seat.
Chloe’s hand tightened over her stomach.
“If you’re all finished,” I said calmly, “then it’s my turn to speak.”
“You want a divorce?” I asked.
He swallowed. “I think it’s best for everyone.”
“Good,” I said. “Because I already called my attorney this morning.”
“And before anyone discusses who will live here, let me remind you of one small detail.”
But every person in that room suddenly stopped breathing.
“This house belongs to me.”
Diane’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“And by the time I’m done, Lucas won’t be moving his mistress into my home. He’ll be lucky if he leaves this marriage with his car.”
That was the moment all six of them turned pale.
And the begging started only minutes later.
But by then, it was already too late…
PART 2
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The music from the party continued drifting through the open doorway.
Laughter.
Champagne glasses clinking.
People celebrating in a house built with my sweat.
Meanwhile my wife and son sat in a filthy back kitchen eating spoiled rice.
My mother opened her mouth first.
“Daniel…”
I held up a hand.
“No.”
The word came out colder than I intended.
Prudence immediately shifted into defense mode.
“It’s not what it looks like.”
I laughed.
A short, humorless laugh.
The kind a man makes when reality becomes too ugly for anger alone.
“Really?”
I pointed toward Jamie.
My six-year-old son instinctively moved closer to Sarah.
The sight nearly shattered me.
A child shouldn’t look at his own father like a stranger.
“Then explain what I’m looking at.”
Prudence glanced toward our mother.
Gertrude glanced back.
Neither spoke.
Sarah finally stood.
Even then she looked nervous.
As though she was afraid telling the truth might somehow make things worse.
“Daniel…”
Her voice trembled.
“They told me not to bother you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
My mother stepped forward.
“We were trying to protect you.”
That sentence almost made me lose control.
“Protect me?”
“Your contract was important.”
“You protected me by starving my family?”
“No!”
Gertrude’s voice cracked.
“We gave them food.”
I looked at the plate in Jamie’s hands.
The spoiled rice.
The leftovers.
The evidence.
Then I looked back at her.
For the first time in my life, I saw my mother exactly as she was.
