Chapter 7 - THE APARTMENT KEYS
Emily picked up the apartment keys from the coffee table.
Ryan looked at her.
She held them for a second.
Then placed them back into his palm.
“I’m still leaving tonight.”
His face fell.
“Emily—”
“I’m not ending this.”
Diane looked almost relieved.
Emily continued.
“But I’m not going home with you until you understand what happened here.”
Ryan swallowed.
“I do.”
“No. You understand what your mother did to Laura.”
Emily looked at her bruising wrist.
“You don’t understand what you did.”
That landed harder.
Ryan glanced down.
“I stopped her.”
“After she grabbed me.”
“Yes.”
“What happened before that?”
He knew.
He had stood between them.
Asked everyone to calm down.
Tried to translate.
Tried to lower volume.
And when Emily looked at him asking, silently, whether their baby and their home came before Diane’s approval, he froze.
“I hesitated.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised him.
“But sorry doesn’t tell me what happens next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
Emily looked at Diane.
Then back at him.
“That is not something you control unless you change something.”
Ryan sat down.
She was right.
Diane could call.
Cry.
Show up.
Threaten illness.
Invoke family.
Attack Emily’s parenting.
Compare her to Laura.
The question was not whether Diane would stop.
The question was whether Ryan could hold a boundary after the room was no longer dramatic enough to make the answer obvious.
Emily took her suitcase.
“I’m staying with Nicole tonight.”
Her closest friend lived fifteen minutes away.
Ryan nodded slowly.
“Can I call you?”
“Yes.”
“Can I come tomorrow?”
“Call first.”
“Yes.”
Diane said:
“You’re letting her manipulate you.”
Ryan turned.
For the first time, there was no hesitation.
“No.”
May you like
He put the apartment keys into his own pocket.
“I’m letting her have a boundary.”
