Chapter 5
Daniel straightened.
“With respect, sir, you don’t understand our finances.”
My father’s expression did not change.
“I understand enough.”
Marlene laughed softly.
“No, you don’t.”
She stepped down one stair.
“Daniel has no job. Elena lives in my home, eats my food, uses my utilities, and still behaves as if she gets to make every decision.”
“I buy groceries,” I said.
“With Daniel’s family in crisis, yes.”
“With my paycheck.”
Marlene’s face hardened.
“You see? That attitude. That is exactly what I have been talking about.”
Dad turned to me.
“How long?”
I knew exactly what he meant.
I looked at Daniel.
Then at Marlene.
“Six months.”
Daniel inhaled sharply.
“Elena.”
But once I said the number aloud, I could not put it back.
“Six months of asking before I use my own car. Six months of explaining what I bought. Six months of being told where I can take Lucas. Six months of being reminded that this is her house.”
Marlene’s face changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
Because she had never expected me to say it in front of someone else.
Then she used the sentence that had kept me frightened.
“If you’re so unhappy, leave.”
My stomach tightened.
She looked at Lucas.
“But don’t expect to walk out of here with everything.”
Dad noticed my reaction.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Marlene said calmly, “Daniel is Lucas’s father. This is Lucas’s home. Elena cannot simply disappear with a child whenever she gets emotional.”
My arms tightened around my son.
There it was.
The threat.
The one she had repeated in different forms for months.
If you leave, Daniel stays.
If Daniel stays, Lucas stays.
If you take Lucas, we’ll say you ran away.
If you have nowhere stable to live, what do you think will happen?
I had believed her because I had been tired, scared, financially stretched, and isolated.
Dad looked at me.
“Elena, is that what she’s been telling you?”
I could barely speak.
“Yes.”
Marlene lifted her chin.
“I’m protecting my grandson.”
“No,” I said.
My voice shook.
But I kept going.
“You’ve been using him to control me.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“That’s enough.”
I looked at him.
“No. It isn’t.”
And for the first time in six months, I realized something that should have been obvious from the beginning.
Marlene’s threat had power only while I believed I had no choice.
I looked at my father.