Chapter 6
Madison called ten minutes later.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Should I answer?”
“Yes.”
He put the phone on speaker.
“Hey.”
Madison sounded like she had been crying.
“Ethan, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t.”
There was noise in the background.
A door closed.
Then she lowered her voice.
“My mom is freaking out.”
I leaned closer.
“Madison, this is Daniel.”
Silence.
“Oh.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You said something about screenshots.”
Another pause.
“I probably shouldn’t have texted that.”
“You’re not in trouble.”
“My mom will kill me.”
“She won’t hear it from me unless there’s a safety issue.”
Ethan looked at me.
Madison whispered, “They’ve been talking about this for a long time.”
“Rachel and your mom?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. Like a year? Maybe more.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Madison continued.
“I thought Aunt Rachel was just complaining because families complain about each other.”
“What changed?”
“I heard Mom tell her she needed to make Ethan uncomfortable enough that he’d stop coming over.”
Ethan went pale.
I struggled to keep my voice calm.
“When did you hear that?”
“Before Christmas.”
Christmas.
Nine months ago.
“What did Rachel say?”
“She said she couldn’t just tell him not to come.”
“And your mother?”
“She said she didn’t have to.”
My hands curled into fists.
“What exactly did she mean?”
Madison sniffed.
“She said little things add up.”
I looked at Ethan.
He stared at the table.
“What little things?”
“I remember Mom saying not to buy food Ethan liked. Put his stuff away when he wasn’t there. Make plans on his weekends so he’d feel awkward.”
My stomach turned.
“Did Rachel agree?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said there were screenshots.”
“My mom screenshots everything when she argues with people.”
“Do you have them?”
A long silence followed.
Then Madison said, “Some.”
“How?”
“She sent them to me.”
“Why?”
“Because yesterday when the trip got canceled, I told her it was messed up if they kicked Ethan out.”
Her voice cracked.
“She got mad and sent me screenshots to prove Aunt Rachel wanted him gone too.”
Ethan whispered, “Can you send them?”
Madison hesitated.
“I don’t want to ruin your family.”
Ethan looked directly at the phone.
“You didn’t.”
A minute later, images began appearing.
One.
Then five.
Then twelve.
I stopped counting at twenty-three.
Some messages were from months earlier.
Rachel:
He’s staying with us extra next week because Laura has work training.
Claire:
Say no.
Rachel:
Daniel already agreed.
Claire:
Then make it unpleasant. He’ll start preferring Laura’s.
Another.
Rachel:
Ethan asked if Daniel could take him shopping tomorrow.
Claire:
Tell him you already made plans for the girls.
Rachel:
I actually did.
Claire:
Perfect. Daniel needs to learn every Ethan request doesn’t become an emergency.
Another.
Claire:
Move some of Madison’s stuff into that room before Florida. He needs to see life continues when he’s not there.
Rachel:
That might be too obvious.
Claire:
Good.
Then a message from Rachel that made my stomach knot.
Rachel:
Sometimes I want him to walk in and realize this isn’t really his home anymore.
I put the phone down.
Ethan had seen it.
He stood abruptly.
“I’m going upstairs.”
“Ethan.”
“I can’t.”
He walked away.
I heard his bedroom door close.
Laura came down.
“What happened?”
I handed her the phone.
She read the first screenshots.
Her face went white.
Then red.
“I’m calling my lawyer.”
“I understand.”
“No, Daniel. I don’t think you do.”
Her voice shook.
“This wasn’t one cruel statement. This was deliberate.”
“I know.”
“She systematically tried to alienate him from his home.”
“I know.”
“And you’re married to her.”
“I know.”
Laura stared at me.
I didn’t blame her.
“Where are you staying?”
“Hotel.”
“Good.”
“I’m not going back tonight.”
“Good.”
I looked toward the stairs.
“I need to talk to him.”
“Not yet.”
“He thinks—”
“He needs ten minutes where nobody makes him process another adult’s betrayal.”
She was right.
I sat down.
Laura read more messages.
Eventually she placed the phone on the table.
“She cannot be alone with him again.”
“I agree.”
Laura looked surprised.
“Completely?”
“Yes.”
“No trying therapy first?”
“Therapy might happen. But Ethan won’t be used as an experiment to see whether Rachel can change.”
Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Okay.”
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I let it ring.
She called again.
Then a text appeared.
Please come home. Claire just called. We need to talk before you hear something that isn’t true.
I almost laughed.
Before you hear.
Not before I lie.
Before you hear.
I replied.
I already have the screenshots.
The three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Returned.
Then my phone rang again.
I answered.
“Daniel—”
“Are they real?”
She started crying.
“Please listen.”
“Are they real?”
“Yes.”
The room felt smaller.
Even though I already knew.
Hearing her admit it made everything final.
“Why?”
“I was angry.”
“For a year?”
“I didn’t do everything Claire suggested.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I felt invisible.”
“So you made Ethan invisible.”
“No.”
“That is exactly what you tried to do.”
“I never wanted him hurt.”
“You wanted him gone.”
Silence.
I continued.
“You wanted him to walk into my house and realize it wasn’t his home anymore.”
“I wrote that after we fought.”
“About what?”
“You forgot our anniversary dinner.”
I froze.
I remembered.
Not the anniversary.
A reservation Rachel had made one week before our actual anniversary.
Ethan had been injured during baseball practice.
The school nurse called.
I picked him up and took him to urgent care.
Sprained wrist.
I spent three hours there.
Rachel had eaten alone at the restaurant.
She told me later she understood.
Apparently she didn’t.
“You were angry because I took my injured son to a doctor?”
“I was angry because it was always something.”
I closed my eyes.
“There is always going to be something. That is what being a parent is.”
“I know.”
“No. You resented me for being his father.”
“I resented never feeling first.”
“You were my wife.”
“That doesn’t mean first.”
“What did you want me to do? Ignore my child?”
“No.”
“Miss games?”
“Sometimes.”
“Skip emergencies?”
“No.”
“Tell him not to come during my custody time?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
She had no answer.
Eventually she whispered, “I don’t know.”
I looked at Laura.
She was watching me.
I turned away.
“Rachel, I’m picking up the girls after school.”
“Can we talk tonight?”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Not tonight.”
“Are you filing for divorce?”
“I don’t know.”
She started sobbing.
“Daniel.”
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
“What?”
“I need you to know Claire pushed me.”
Anger flared through me.
“You are thirty-seven years old.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t control you.”
“I know.”
“You made the choices.”
“I know.”
“Then stop hiding behind your sister.”
She went quiet.
I hung up.
When Ethan came downstairs twenty minutes later, his eyes were swollen.
“I want to get my stuff.”
I knew exactly what he meant.
“From the house?”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
Laura stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Mom.”
“I’m not letting you go there alone.”
“Dad will be there.”
Laura looked at me.
“If she says one thing to him—”
“She won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
I stood.
“But I can make sure we leave immediately if she does.”
Laura reluctantly agreed.
Rachel’s car was in the driveway when we arrived.
Ethan stopped before opening his door.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No.”
“Want me to do it?”
“No.”
We walked inside.
Rachel stood in the living room.
She looked like she hadn’t moved in hours.
When she saw Ethan, she started crying.
“Ethan.”
He walked past her.
She turned.
“Please, can I say something?”
He stopped.
I stood near him.
Rachel wiped her face.
“I am sorry.”
Ethan stared at her.
“I know you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you’re sorry now.”
Her expression crumpled.
He continued.
“I don’t know if you’re sorry for what you did or because Dad found out.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Ethan walked upstairs.
I followed.
We packed clothes.
His laptop.
School books.
The few possessions that remained in his room.
Then we went to the garage.
He opened the boxes.
For the next thirty minutes, he sorted through his own childhood.
Each object seemed to hurt.
A trophy.
A baseball glove.
A framed picture.
A handmade Father’s Day card he had somehow saved.
I carried the boxes outside.
Rachel stood by the front door.
Ava and Sophie weren’t home yet.
As we loaded the last box, Rachel approached Ethan.
“Can I hug you?”
He shook his head.
She stopped.
“Okay.”
“I don’t hate you,” he said.
She started crying again.
“That almost makes it worse.”
“Why?”
“Because I deserve it.”
Ethan looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said, “I just don’t trust you.”
Rachel nodded.
“I understand.”
He got into my truck.
Before I could follow, Rachel touched my arm.
“Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“I made an appointment with a therapist.”
“Good.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Good.”
“Will that matter?”
“I don’t know.”
Her eyes filled.
“Do you still love me?”
I didn’t want to answer.
But she deserved the same honesty I demanded.
“Yes.”
Hope appeared in her face.
I stopped it immediately.
“Love isn’t the problem.”
She stared at me.
“Trust is.”
I got into the truck.
Halfway to Laura’s, Ethan looked at me.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to know the worst part?”
I wasn’t sure I did.
“What?”
He looked out the window.
“I almost stopped coming.”
My grip tightened on the wheel.
“When?”
“After Christmas.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He swallowed.
“Because Sophie cried when I said I might stay at Mom’s more.”
I looked at him.
He gave me a weak smile.
“She said I was her favorite brother.”
“You’re her only brother.”
“I know.”
He laughed softly.
Then his smile disappeared.
“So I kept coming.”
I stared at the road.
Rachel and Claire had tried to push my son out.
May you like
A six-year-old girl had unknowingly pulled him back.
And I had missed all of it.
