Chapter 2: Three Words I Had to Read Twice
I stared at the screen.
My sister's name.
Calling Michael.
At this exact moment.
My hand wouldn't move.
"Answer it," Diane said, almost smiling now.
"Go ahead."
Michael reached for the phone fast — too fast — and declined the call.
"It's nothing," he said.
"She probably just—"
"She probably just what, Michael?"
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Emma was still sitting at the table, her small hands folded in her lap, watching everything.
I looked at my daughter and said quietly, "Go wait in the car, baby."
She didn't argue.
She slipped off her chair and walked out without a word.
The moment the door closed, I turned back to Michael.
"How long?"
He shook his head.
"You're misunderstanding this."
"How long, Michael?"
Diane crossed her arms.
"Tell her.
Or I will."
Michael's jaw tightened.
He looked at his mother with something I had never seen on his face before — not anger, but fear.
"Stay out of this," he said to her.
"I've been staying out of it for fourteen months," Diane said.
"I'm done."
Fourteen months.
The room tilted.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
A text.
From my sister.
I opened it.
May you like
Three words.
I had to read them twice before my legs understood what my eyes were seeing.
