CHAPTER 9 — THE SECRETS HIDDEN INSIDE OUR HOME
The next day, Hannah told me something that hurt even more than what I had witnessed.
“Thomas... my mother-in-law didn't just do that yesterday.”
I looked at her.
“What else?”
She told me everything.
The dinners she had been excluded from.
The gifts my mother had thrown away.
The insults.
The times Evelyn had told her she wasn't good enough to become the mother of her grandchildren.
And even once, my mother had said:
“If you have a son, that child will carry our family's blood. You are only the woman who gives birth to him.”
I clenched my fists.
Hannah had kept all of it inside.
Not because she was weak.
Because she was afraid I would be forced to choose.
I held her.
“You don't have to protect me from the truth anymore.”
She cried.
“I just didn't want to lose you.”
I kissed her forehead.
“You won't lose me.”
“I wasted three years trying to keep everyone happy.”
May you like
I looked into her eyes.
“But I'll spend the rest of my life proving that I finally understand.”
