Chapter 4 - Apologize or Leave
When they returned to the lake house for their bags, Patricia was seated at the kitchen island crying as though she were the one who had nearly stopped breathing. Brooke stood beside her with a glass of wine and a face sharpened by family loyalty.
“You humiliated Mom in front of everyone,” Brooke said.
Elena was still holding Leo, who had woken up and started crying again the moment he saw the house.
Nathan set the hospital bag on the counter. “Brooke, not now.”
Patricia lifted her chin. “No. It needs to be said. She accused me in front of my guests.”
“I said my son was having a reaction,” Elena said.
“You made it sound like I poisoned him.”
Elena’s eyes moved to Nathan. “Your mother gave him peanut sauce.”
Patricia gasped.
Brooke snapped, “It was an accident.”
Nathan stepped between them, his voice low and strained. “Elena, Mom didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“Leo almost stopped breathing.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because none of you seem to understand it.”
Patricia wiped beneath one eye. “She owes this family an apology.”
Elena laughed once. It came out small and brittle.
Nathan turned on her.
“Apologize,” he said, “or pack your bags and leave.”
For one moment, Elena saw her marriage clearly.
Not damaged.
Not fixable.
Never truly built.
Because a marriage where a mother must apologize for keeping her child alive is not a marriage. It is a hostage situation with wedding photos.
Elena nodded once.
“All right.”
May you like
Nathan looked relieved, thinking he had won.
Then Elena walked upstairs and packed.
