I read it.
If you come back, she will choose me. Do not make her say it to your face.
I covered my mouth.
“I believed him,” Andrew said. “I couldn’t survive hearing that from you.”
“You never would have heard it.”
“I know that now,” he said. “But I didn’t know it then.”
I closed my eyes.
All the guilt I had carried for six years changed shape.
It became rage.
I turned back to Marcus.
“You watched me fall apart.”
He stayed silent.
“You let me believe my own son had abandoned me.”
“I thought it was kinder.”
“Kinder?”
A bitter laugh nearly escaped me.
“There is nothing kind about convincing a child that his mother would be happier without him.”
Marcus finally lost control.
“I was tired,” he snapped. “I was tired of the arguments. Tired of the neighbors whispering. Tired of wondering what people thought when they saw him.”
“There it is,” Andrew said softly.
Marcus ignored him.
“I wanted a normal family.”
I shook my head.
“You had one.”
He frowned.
“You just refused to accept it.”
The room went still.
Then I walked into the hallway.
Marcus looked confused.
“What are you doing?”
I opened the closet and pulled out the large suitcase we used to take on vacations. I carried it back into the living room and placed it at his feet.
He looked down at it, then back at me.
“Liza.”
“You wanted my son gone.”
I pointed at the suitcase.
“Now you can leave.”
His face drained.
“You’re kicking me out?”
“You stole six years from me.”
He stepped toward me.
“We can fix this.”
“No.”
“You owe me a chance.”
