Chapter 2 - The Severing of Ties
Marissa stood up so abruptly that her chair screeched against the floor.
The sound set my teeth on edge,
a sharp discord in my peaceful home.
"It doesn't matter who convinced us,"
she hissed,
leaning over the table until she was in my personal space.
"What matters is that you have a house worth seven hundred thousand dollars,
and you’re sitting on it while your son drowns."
I didn't move,
I didn't flinch,
and I didn't let her see the hurt.
"This house is not just an asset,
Marissa,"
I said,
my voice like tempered steel.
"It is your father's legacy,
and it is my security."
"You are asking me to gamble my old age on a 'real estate investment' that you won't even explain."
Daniel stepped forward,
finally finding some fire,
though it was the wrong kind.
"Mom,
if you don't do this,
we are going to lose our home."
"They’ll take the cars,
they’ll take everything."
"Then you should have come to me before you signed the papers,"
I replied.
"You should have asked for my advice when I could have actually helped."
Marissa let out a harsh,
unpleasant laugh.
"Oh,
so that's how it is?"
"You're going to lecture us while we go bankrupt?"
She looked at Daniel,
her face twisted into a mask of manipulation.
"I told you she didn't care about us."
"I told you her 'love' was just a word."
She turned back to me,
her eyes narrowing into slits.
"If you don't pay this debt,
don't you ever call yourself family again."
The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest,
knocking the wind out of me.
I looked at Daniel,
waiting for him to defend me,
waiting for him to tell her she had gone too far.
He just stood there,
his silence a betrayal more profound than any debt.
He didn't disagree.
He didn't speak.
He just looked at the floor,
acquiescing to the threat.
The pain was sharp,
but it was followed by a sudden,
freezing clarity.
I realized that they weren't here for help,
they were here for an inheritance while I was still breathing.
I stood up,
carefully smoothing the front of my apron.
"Then I'm no longer family,"
I said,
my voice calm and terrifyingly quiet.
Marissa blinked,
her mouth falling open in shock.
She hadn't expected me to call her bluff.
"Get out of my house,"
I said,
pointing toward the front door.
"But Mom—"
Daniel started,
reaching out a hand.
"I am no longer your mother,
remember?"
I cut him off.
"I am just a woman with a house you want."
"And this woman is telling you to leave."
Marissa grabbed the manila folder,
shoving the papers back inside with trembling hands.
"Fine!"
she screamed.
"We’re leaving,
and you can rot in this museum of a house all by yourself!"
"Don't come crawling to us when you're too old to walk!"
They marched out,
the front door slamming with a force that made the pictures on the wall shiver.
I sat back down at the table,
the silence returning,
May you like
but it was no longer peaceful.
It was the silence of a tomb.
