Chapter 3 - The Family That Suddenly Cared
My mother reached for me.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
I stepped backward.
Her arms closed around empty air.
She froze.
Dad frowned.
“Claire, really?”
Melissa stood behind them wearing a camel-colored coat and carrying a designer handbag.
She looked around me into the house.
“Can we come in?”
“Why?”
Mom blinked.
“We’re your family.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“We came because we’re concerned.”
“About what?”
“You’ve been through an unimaginable tragedy.”
“Six months ago.”
Mom looked wounded.
“We didn’t know how to approach you.”
I stared at her.
“You knew my address.”
Melissa crossed her arms.
“Can we not make this hostile?”
I looked at her.
“Why are you here?”
She hesitated.
Dad answered.
“We saw the article.”
There it was.
“The settlement.”
“It’s not about the money,” Mom said quickly.
“Good.”
I opened the door wider.
“Then we won’t discuss it.”
Nobody moved.
Melissa finally walked inside.
Mom and Dad followed.
Margaret remained near the kitchen doorway.
Dad noticed her.
“Oh. Margaret.”
“Charles.”
The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
Mom gave Ethan’s mother an awkward smile.
“We’re so sorry for your loss.”
Margaret stared at her.
“You had an opportunity to say that at the funeral.”
Mom’s face flushed.
“That situation was complicated.”
“No,” Margaret said. “It was a funeral.”
Dad stepped forward.
“We didn’t come here to be attacked.”
I almost laughed.
“Then why did you come?”
Melissa sat on my couch.
“We want to fix things.”
“Okay.”
She looked surprised.
I sat opposite her.
“Start.”
“What?”
“Fix it.”
Silence.
Melissa looked at Mom.
Mom looked at Dad.
Finally Dad said, “Mistakes were made.”
“Which mistake?”
“Claire.”
“Name it.”
He sighed.
“We should have handled the funeral differently.”
“You should have attended it.”
“Yes.”
“Say why you didn’t.”
His expression hardened.
“This feels unnecessary.”
“It’s extremely necessary.”
Melissa suddenly stood.
“Because it was my birthday!”
Everyone turned toward her.
She threw up her hands.
“There. Happy?”
“No.”
Her face tightened.
“I didn’t ask them to miss the funeral.”
“You didn’t come either.”
“I didn’t know what to do!”
“You could have put on a black dress and sat in a church.”
She looked away.
Mom stepped between us.
“We failed you.”
For one second, I thought I saw something genuine.
Then she continued.
“But families have to forgive each other.”
There it was.
The shortcut.
No accountability.
Straight to forgiveness.
Dad sat down.
“Claire, you’ve received an enormous amount of money. That kind of thing can attract people who don’t have your best interests at heart.”
Margaret actually laughed.
Dad glared at her.
I leaned back.
“Who exactly?”
“Lawyers. Charities. Ethan’s relatives.”
Margaret stopped laughing.
I stood.
“You should leave.”
“Claire—”
“Now.”
Melissa grabbed her purse.
“This is ridiculous. We came because we care.”
“Then tell me where Lily is buried.”
She froze.
“What?”
“My daughter. Your niece. Where is she buried?”
Melissa’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I turned to Mom.
“What was Noah wearing in the last school picture I sent you?”
She stared at me.
Dad stood.
“That proves nothing.”
I looked at him.
“What was Ethan’s middle name?”
Silence.
Margaret whispered, “James.”
I looked back at my father.
“You’re worried strangers might take advantage of me?”
I opened the front door.
“The strangers remembered my husband’s middle name.”
Dad walked toward me.
Before stepping outside, he lowered his voice.
“Don’t make permanent decisions because you’re grieving.”
I met his eyes.
“I already made one.”
“What?”
“My family is the people who showed up.”
His face changed.
I closed the door.
But twenty minutes later, Melissa sent me a message.
You’re going to regret humiliating us.
I stared at it.
Then another appeared.
Especially after everything Mom and Dad sacrificed for you.
I took a screenshot.
Margaret looked over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Learning.”
“Learning what?”
May you like
I locked my phone.
“That people tell you exactly who they are when they realize they can’t control you.”
