I forgot about the dishes.
“What else?”
Anna described her marriage.
At first, Margaret corrected tiny things.
How Anna set the table.
What she wore to family events.
When she could speak without embarrassing Daniel.
Then came the Sunday dinners.
Anna cooked.
Anna served.
Anna ate afterward.
Alone.
“Exactly like you.”
Sophie nodded.
“It wasn’t tradition, Aunt Corinne. It was training.”
The letter said Daniel initially apologized for Margaret.
Then he began defending her.
Eventually he started enforcing the rules himself.
He monitored Anna’s spending.
Read her messages.
Decided which friends were “bad for the marriage.”
When Anna resisted, Daniel told his family she was unstable.
Then Anna discovered money missing from an account she’d inherited from her grandmother.
“How much?”
“Almost 30,000 dollars.”
I stared at her.
“Did Daniel take it?”
“Anna believed he and Margaret did.”
“Where is Anna now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then we’re leaving.”
“I need that letter.”
“No. You need to be safe.”
“I need proof.”
“Sophie.”
Her eyes filled.
“He has already started telling people I’m having problems.”
That silenced me.
“Last month I told him I wanted counseling. Two days later, Margaret called and asked whether I’d started taking my medication again.”
“What medication?”
