CLAIRE POINTED TO THE FLOOR
Margaret laughed once.
It sounded wrong.
“Claire is confused.”
Claire swallowed hard.
“No. I’ve been confused for years. Not today.”
Nathan helped Abigail sit against the side of the bed, then stood between her and Margaret.
Margaret’s panic began to show through her makeup.
“This is absurd,” she said. “You’re all reacting to nothing.”
Claire stepped into the room.
Her eyes moved to the bedpost.
Then to the marble floor.
Then to the folder on the bed.
“What is that?” Nathan asked.
Margaret reached for it.
Claire got there first.
She picked up the folder and opened it with shaking hands.
Her face changed as she read.
Nathan took it from her.
Abigail watched his eyes move across the page.
The silence became unbearable.
When Nathan reached the signature line, his face went completely still.
“You wanted her declared unstable?” he asked.
Margaret lifted her chin.
“I wanted you protected.”
“From my pregnant wife?”
“From a woman using your child to take control of this family.”
Abigail closed her eyes.
The words hurt less now because Nathan had heard them.
Cruelty loses some of its power when it finally has witnesses.
Nathan looked at Claire.
“How long have you known?”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“Too long.”
Margaret snapped, “Don’t you dare.”
Claire pointed toward the bedpost and the floor.
“She cornered her there,” Claire said. “I didn’t see the shove, but I heard Abigail beg her not to touch her. Then I heard her fall.”
Margaret’s face collapsed from fury into fear.
May you like
Nathan looked at his mother.
“Then she forgot I came home early.”
