Chapter 12 - Naya Finally Said Why She Chose Mike
Naya came to Claire’s house alone.
Eight months pregnant, visibly exhausted, she stood in the entryway until Claire stepped aside.
They sat at opposite ends of the living room.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Then Naya said, “I hated him when I found out about Lily.”
Claire believed her.
“That almost makes it worse.”
“I know.”
Naya admitted that Mike began calling after she confronted him.
At first she hung up.
Then he apologized.
Then he explained.
Then he told her Claire had stopped loving him.
Naya knew better.
But she liked being the person he spoke honestly to.
Or seemed to.
Growing up, Claire had been the dependable sister.
Good grades.
Stable career.
First marriage.
First grandchild.
Naya had spent years being described as impulsive, dramatic, difficult.
Mike did something dangerous for her self-esteem.
He asked for her advice.
Needed her.
Trusted her with things he hid from Claire.
“You mistook being given secrets for being chosen,” Claire said.
Naya began crying.
“Yes.”
Claire did not comfort her.
Naya continued.
When Mike and Claire argued, Naya told herself the marriage was already dying.
When Claire called her crying, Naya listened and hated herself afterward.
When their mother warned Naya to stay away from Mike, Naya heard something else beneath it:
Claire can survive this. You cannot survive being the villain.
“So you made me the villain instead.”
Naya nodded.
“That’s what I did.”
Mike entered the conversation later at Claire’s request.
He did not blame Naya.
He admitted he had used her admiration.
Whenever Naya pushed him to tell Claire about Lily, he described Claire as unstable, controlling, or vindictive.
Whenever Naya pulled away, he told her she was the only person who understood how trapped he felt.
He had made two women doubt Claire at once.
Their mother had supplied the silence.
Naya had supplied the emotional refuge.
Mike had supplied the lies.
Claire looked at all of them separately now.
No single villain had engineered everything.
That was almost harder.
The damage came from a series of selfish decisions people kept calling temporary.
Naya put one hand over her belly.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
Naya nodded.
“What do you want me to do?”
Claire answered immediately.
May you like
“Stop making decisions based on whether I’ll forgive you.”
That was the first honest boundary between them in years.
