Chapter 9 - The Price of Broken Trust
My mother showed up at my door on a Tuesday afternoon.
She looked tired. Smaller than I remembered.
I didn’t invite her inside.
“I came to talk,” she said. “Your father… he misses Grace. We both do.”
I stayed in the doorway.
“Then you should have protected her when it mattered.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears I didn’t believe.
“We didn’t know it was that bad. Lauren said—”
“Lauren lied,” I said. “And you chose to believe her because it was easier than admitting your daughter hurt your granddaughter.”
Mom wiped her eyes.
“Erin, please. This is tearing the family apart.”
I looked at her for a long moment.
“The family was already torn apart the night you watched Lauren step on Grace’s glasses and did nothing. I’m just the one who finally said it out loud.”
Mom’s shoulders slumped.
“What do you want from us?” she asked.
“I want you to admit what happened. I want you to stop defending Lauren. And I want you to understand that until I believe Grace is safe with you, she won’t be around you without me.”
Mom looked like she wanted to argue.
Instead, she nodded once.
“I’ll talk to your father,” she said quietly.
Then she turned and walked back to her car.
I closed the door and leaned against it.
My hands were shaking.
But my heart felt steadier than it had in weeks.
May you like
I had drawn the line.
And for the first time, they were starting to see I wasn’t going to erase it.
