Chapter 2: The Truth My Mother Tried to Hide
That night, after Clara locked herself in the bedroom, I sat beside my mother.
She wouldn’t look at me.
“Mom,” I said softly. “How long?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but she forced a smile. “She’s young. She doesn’t understand. I didn’t want to cause problems between you two.”
My chest tightened.
“Did she make you do this every day?”
Silence.
That was my answer.
I took her hands gently. The skin was cracked. Inflamed.
“She said… if I didn’t help,” my mother whispered, “she might ask me to leave.”
My heart dropped.
“This is your home,” I said firmly.
She shook her head. “No, son… it’s your marriage.”
I closed my eyes.
And in that moment, something inside me shifted.
Not anger.
May you like
Not rage.
Clarity.
