“Not for a little while, buddy. We’re giving them some space.”
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay, can we invite Annie Sarah instead?”
My ex’s sister, who’d always been kind to him.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “We can do that.”
He smiled and went back to his drawing, humming to himself.
I watched him for a long time, realizing that the less time he spent around my family, the brighter he seemed.
Still, late at night, I’d catch myself thinking about everything.
The years I’d wasted trying to earn their approval, the quiet humiliations, the countless “be grateful” speeches.
It all added up to this moment.
Me alone in my kitchen sipping cold coffee with an overflowing folder of evidence sitting on my desktop like a ticking clock.
I wasn’t ready to press the button yet, but I would be.
