“It has, I guess,” Jenna said. “And it always ends the same way — Uncle Derek creates chaos, and someone else disappears. Just don’t let it be you, Claire. Please.”
“I think he just needed a reason that didn’t hurt so much.”
That’s when I heard footsteps. Not slow, not careful, but confident.
I stopped.
Derek stood near the tree. He didn’t have his cane. There was no limp. Instead, he adjusted an ornament on the tree.
That’s when I heard footsteps.
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“By New Year’s, she’ll be long gone. My son will choose me. Ethan always does.”
I stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs, my fingers curled around the banister so tightly they ached. My heart thudded like it was trying to get out.
My father-in-law’s words echoed in my ears.
“By New Year’s, she’ll be long gone. My son will choose me. Ethan always does.”
When I finally heard the guest bedroom door shut downstairs, I moved. Not quickly, but just loud enough to get back to bed without waking Ethan. I slid under the covers beside him and lay there rigid, staring at the ceiling, afraid to even turn my head.
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I didn’t sleep. I just waited for morning.
The next day, I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t immediately accuse Derek. I didn’t even tell Ethan.
Not yet.
I just waited for morning.
Instead, I took my spare cellphone and slid it onto the mantel behind a framed photo. I set it to record and walked out the front door, saying that I had a few errands to run. Ethan was already at work.
I stayed away for at least half an hour.
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It didn’t take long.
Ethan was already at work.
There Derek was, walking through the living room with his cane tucked under his arm like a folded umbrella. He didn’t limp. He didn’t groan. He sat on the couch, leaned back with his arms stretched out, and laughed.
“I swear,” he muttered to himself. “That girl actually thinks she belongs here.”
Then he picked up the photo of me and Ethan on our wedding day and stared at it. His voice dropped low, but it was still clear enough.
“That girl actually thinks she belongs here.”
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“You were supposed to marry up, son. Not sideways. You were always soft.”
He paused, his lips twitching.
“But don’t worry, my son. I’ll fix it again. Just like I fixed it with your awful mother… Marianne was the biggest mistake of my life. But at least she gave me my son.”
My fingers were trembling when I paused the recording.
“You were always soft.”
I waited until Ethan got home, then asked him to sit with me in the kitchen. I passed him the phone without a word. He didn’t ask what he was about to see.
He watched the video all the way through. I saw it — how it hit him.
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First, the confusion. And then denial. And then the full-body blow of truth.
I saw it — how it hit him.
When the screen went dark, he put the phone down and covered his mouth with both hands. For a long time, he didn’t say anything.
Then he looked up at me.
“He used to talk to my mom like that.”
“I figured, honey.”
“I never saw it, Claire. She never told me… not in so many words, I guess. I just thought…”
For a long time, he didn’t say anything.
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Ethan’s voice trailed off, and I saw something in his face I hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t guilt or defensiveness. It was grief.
“I think she stayed quiet to protect you,” I said softly. “I think she tried as long and hard as she could, but it didn’t protect her.”
“Where is he?” Ethan asked, standing slowly.
“In the guest room. Watching movies and acting like the king of the house. He asked for toasted sandwiches and ginger tea before you got home.”
“I think she stayed quiet to protect you,” I said softly.
Ethan shook his head and walked out without another word.
I followed him as far as the hallway.
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“Dad,” Ethan said, standing in the doorway of the guest room. “You need to leave.”
“Excuse me, what?” Derek asked, not even turning down the volume.
“Oh, you heard me, Dad. You’re not welcome anymore.”
“You need to leave.”
“What the heck is this about, Ethan?”
“It’s about everything,” Ethan said, not raising his voice. “It’s about the lying, the way you speak to Claire, and the things you said above me when no one was looking. You don’t get to live in our house and destroy it from the inside.”
