Chapter 3
I stayed on the couch with Lila until the sun started to paint the walls pale gray.
She told me everything.
How Mom had started criticizing her the moment we moved in.
How the comments turned to shoves when I was at work.
How she’d kicked her behind the door last week, screaming that Lila was “ruining her son’s life.”
Lila said she’d tried to tell me once. But Mom had interrupted and twisted her words so badly I’d thought Lila was just being sensitive.
I felt sick. I’d chosen my mother over the woman I loved. I’d almost destroyed us both.
When Lila finally fell asleep, I went to check on Mom.
Her door was open. Her bags were packed by the hallway.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her hands. She looked smaller. Older.
“Why?” I asked from the doorway. “Why did you do this?”
She didn’t look up. “You were all I had. Then she came along. You changed. You stopped listening to me.”
“So you hurt her? You lied to me?”
“I wanted things back the way they were.” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t mean… it just got out of hand.”
“Things change, Mom. I have a family now. Lila is my family. And you hurt her.”
“I’m your mother!” She stood up, voice rising again. “Blood is thicker than water!”
“Blood doesn’t mean anything when you use it to hurt people,” I said quietly.
I handed her the keys to her old car. “I’ve called your sister. She’s expecting you. You need time to think about what you’ve done.”
She stared at the keys like I’d handed her a snake. Then she took them.
“I hope you know what you’re throwing away,” she said coldly.
May you like
“I hope you know what you’re losing,” I answered.
I watched her walk out the door. I didn’t follow. I couldn’t.
