Chapter 6 - THE MARRIAGE THAT DIDN’T SURVIVE THE FIRST TRUTH INTACT
Anna came home three days later.
Lily stayed with Michael’s sister overnight while Anna slept.
The house smelled different after the locks were changed.
Safer, perhaps.
Not familiar.
Michael made soup and placed it beside Anna without asking her to eat. The hospital therapist had warned him not to turn food into another source of control.
Anna appreciated the restraint.
She still would not look at him for long.
“You called my mother about me.”
“I was worried.”
“You told her I was skipping meals.”
“I didn’t think she’d use it.”
“You always say that about her.”
Michael sat across from her.
Anna reminded him of every boundary Evelyn crossed that he had minimized.
The unannounced visits.
The comments about Anna’s parenting.
Daniel checking their bank app after supposedly helping with taxes.
Evelyn calling Lily “my second chance.”
Michael had answered each complaint with some version of she means well.
“I thought keeping peace helped you,” he said.
“It helped you.”
The distinction landed cleanly.
Anna was not blaming him for what Evelyn and Daniel did.
She was blaming him for repeatedly making her prove danger before he respected discomfort.
Michael could not argue with that.
The child-safety caseworker allowed Lily to remain with her parents after doctors confirmed the injuries were consistent with deprivation during the period Evelyn and Daniel were present and after the home showed no ongoing safety concerns.
But the investigation stayed open.
Anna refused to celebrate.
“They don’t trust me yet.”
Michael said, “Then we give them everything they need.”
Anna looked at him.
“We?”
May you like
He stopped.
That single word told him their marriage was no longer a certainty.
