“You’re a guest here, Alex.”
“And you’re the one who invited me.”
For the first time, the polished executive looked genuinely angry.
Then he leaned back and changed tactics.
“Karen has always been emotionally dependent on me. I worry that she isn’t handling the separation rationally.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Don’t talk about her like she’s a problem you need to manage.”
Michael looked surprised.
Perhaps he had expected his son to remain silent.
“I’m only concerned about her well-being.”
“Then you should have thought about that before you spent four years lying to her.”
Dinner ended shortly afterward.
Outside, Daniel stood beneath the restaurant awning with his hands in his pockets.
“I can’t believe he brought her.”
“Neither can I.”
He looked at me.
“Do you think Mom knew?”
“About Natalie?”
“About how bad it was.”
I thought about Karen sitting on her kitchen floor beside the broken glass.
“I think she knew something was wrong. I don’t think she knew how much he’d been hiding.”
