Chapter 10 - The Screenshot.
Allison drove home with Mason's apology repeating in her mind.
It was the first useful thing anyone had said all afternoon.
She stopped at Jenna's house to pick up Ethan.
He was in the driveway juggling a soccer ball with Jenna's son.
For a moment, Allison watched from the car.
He looked lighter away from the adults.
Then he saw her and the smile faded slightly.
"How bad was it?"
Allison got out.
"Complicated."
Ethan tucked the ball under one arm.
"Is Grandma still mad?"
"Yes."
"Uncle Mark?"
"Also yes."
Ethan looked down.
"Mason?"
Allison smiled for the first time that day.
"Mason asked me to tell you something."
Ethan looked up.
"He said he is sorry you thought taking your clinic spot was his idea."
Ethan blinked.
"It wasn't?"
"No."
Relief passed across his face so quickly that Allison almost missed it.
"I thought he hated me."
"He doesn't."
"Can I text him?"
"You can."
Back at home, Ethan disappeared upstairs with his phone.
Allison opened her laptop at the kitchen table.
She wanted to document everything while it was fresh.
Not because she expected legal action.
She simply knew how quickly family stories could be rewritten.
At 4:42 p.m., Lucy sent a message.
"I think you should have the whole screenshot."
An image followed.
It was the private group conversation between Mark and their mother.
Allison enlarged it.
The first message was from Mark.
"If she posts one more thing about that clinic, Mason is going to feel awful."
Her mother's response came two minutes later.
"Then we address it before the birthday ends."
Mark replied.
"She'll say Ethan earned it."
Their mother wrote back.
"Make it about all the cousins."
Then came the sentence Lucy had already quoted.
"If we make it about all the cousins, Allison can't accuse us of favoring Mason."
Allison scrolled.
Mark had written that Allison would never agree.
Her mother answered.
"She will if she feels the family is united."
Mark asked what to do if she left.
Their mother wrote one final line.
"She always comes back."
Allison stared at those four words.
They hurt more than everything else.
Not because they were cruel.
Because they were true.
Allison had always come back.
After every unfair holiday assignment.
After every joke about her being overly sensitive.
After every time Mark was forgiven before she was even heard.
She returned because she believed consistency was part of love.
Her mother had interpreted it as leverage.
Ethan came downstairs while Allison was still staring at the screen.
"Mason texted back."
Allison closed the laptop halfway.
"What did he say?"
"He said he wants to practice with me before the clinic."
"That sounds good."
Ethan smiled.
Then he noticed Allison's face.
"What's wrong?"
Allison hesitated.
She did not want him reading adult messages.
She also did not want secrets to keep shaping his life.
"I learned something about what happened at your birthday."
Ethan pulled out a chair.
"About Grandma?"
"Yes."
"Did she really want me to quit?"
Allison chose each word carefully.
"She wanted me to agree to it."
Ethan's eyes dropped to the table.
"Because I'm strong?"
Allison froze.
"Who told you that?"
Ethan looked confused.
"Grandma did."
Allison's heart sank.
"When?"
"Before you opened the door Friday."
May you like
Ethan swallowed.
"She called me into the garage at the party and said strong people know when to let someone else have a turn."
