“I’m a grown man, Mom.”
“And I’m your mother!”
“I know who you are!”
The words came out louder than either of us expected.
Margaret flinched.
Roy took a breath and continued.
“You didn’t just lie to me. You involved an innocent person in a scheme to hurt my wife. You tried to make me believe Vanessa was the problem so I would come running back to you.”
“I was lonely!”
“I understand that you’re lonely. I understand that you need help. We offered to arrange it. But you used your loneliness as an excuse to control us.”
Margaret began crying.
This time, there were no prepared tissues and no carefully measured pauses.
She cried because the man she had expected to manipulate had finally stopped obeying her.
“I raised you alone,” she whispered. “I gave up everything for you.”
Roy’s eyes filled with tears.
“And I will always be grateful for what you did for me. But raising me doesn’t mean you own the rest of my life.”
