Page 39

Elaine

I didn't speak as we walked away from the barn. The cold night air wrapped around me, but it couldn't touch the storm brewing beneath my skin. My mother. She had done this to me. She hadn't just ignored me, abandoned me emotionally—she had poisoned me. Intentionally. Slowly. For years.

The wind stirred the trees overhead, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. Dominic kept glancing at me, his hand hovering near mine like he wasn't sure if I'd let him hold it. I didn't know if I would either.

We reached the edge of the woods before I stopped walking. My feet sank slightly into the damp soil, and I just stood there, staring at nothing. The sky above was painted in stars, too bright, too beautiful for a night like this.

"She's not coming back from this," I said, voice brittle. "There's no repairing this."

"No," Dominic said softly, stepping closer. "But you can."

I shook my head. "You don't get it. She was the one person I thought would never... I mean, she was awful, but I never thought she would actually want to break me."

Dominic reached out then, wrapping his arms around me from behind. I didn't resist. I didn't lean in either.

"She was afraid," he murmured into my hair. "Afraid of what you were becoming. Of losing control. People do terrible things when they're scared."

"That doesn't make it okay."

"No. It doesn't."

The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating. I pulled away gently, needing space. I felt like I was made of glass—any sudden touch might shatter me.

"I need to see her," I said suddenly.

Dominic's eyes narrowed. "Elaine—"

"I need to look her in the face. I need to hear her say it. I need her to admit what she did to me."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but then he sighed. "Okay. Then we'll go together."

The house was dark when we pulled up. My childhood home looked smaller than I remembered, the shadows stretching across the lawn like claws. I sat in the truck for a long time before I opened the door.

Dominic didn't follow me to the porch, but I felt his presence behind me, steady and silent. I rang the doorbell with a hand that barely stopped shaking.

Footsteps. Then the door creaked open.

My mother looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her makeup was smudged, her eyes hollow. She froze when she saw me.

"Elaine..."

"Hi, Mom." I stepped inside without waiting for her to invite me. The air smelled like lavender and regret.

We stood in the foyer like strangers. I didn't want to sit. I didn't want tea or small talk or apologies. I wanted the truth.

"You poisoned me," I said. "Just say it."

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

"I want to hear you say it."

Her shoulders slumped. She turned away, walking into the kitchen like her legs had turned to lead. I followed.

"I did it for you," she whispered. "I did it because I was scared."

I didn't move. "Scared of what?"

She turned to me, eyes filled with something I couldn't quite name. "Scared of who you'd become. Scared of the world you were being pulled into. You were changing. You were slipping away from me. I didn't want you in the world I escaped from."

"So you thought weakening me would stop it?" My voice cracked. "You thought making me sick would bring me back to you?"

Tears filled her eyes. "I thought it would protect you."

The silence was louder than anything she could have said. I felt like a puppet with my strings cut.

"You don't get to be in my life anymore," I said, finally. "You don't get to be my mother after this."

She didn't fight me. She didn't beg. Maybe she knew there was nothing she could say. She was a drunk and all the memories of her in my life were bad ones. I know it was cruel, but I knew deep down in my heart that I wasn't losing much.

I turned and walked out of the house.

Dominic was waiting on the porch. I didn't say anything as I passed him, but this time when he reached for my hand, I didn't pull away.

I let him hold it.

And for the first time since everything fell apart, I didn't feel like I was alone.