Chapter 6 - A Daughter Choosing Silence
Vivian did not call Damon.
She wanted Audrey to speak first.
For two days, her daughter avoided her.
Then Damon sent a message.
You’re enjoying this.
Vivian deleted it.
A second arrived.
Audrey’s falling apart because of you.
Vivian stared at that one longer.
For most of Audrey’s life, Vivian had fixed problems before her daughter had to feel their full weight.
Private-school tuition.
A college apartment.
A wedding that cost far more than planned.
A down payment after Audrey and Damon married.
Vivian had called those things generosity.
Now she wondered how often Audrey had experienced them as rescue.
On Friday, Audrey finally came to Margaret’s house, where Vivian had agreed to meet her.
She looked exhausted.
“I’m not defending what Damon did.”
“You took my phone away while I was bleeding.”
“I was scared.”
“Of him?”
Audrey hesitated.
“Of everything.”
Vivian leaned back.
Audrey admitted she had been taking money to cover household expenses without telling Damon how badly their finances had deteriorated.
“He thought his business was recovering.”
“Why?”
“Because I kept telling him it was.”
Vivian’s anger shifted.
“You lied to both of us.”
Audrey nodded.
Then came the part Vivian hadn’t expected.
Damon had believed Vivian was quietly funding them.
Audrey had told him her mother had agreed to help until the business stabilized.
“She never told me no,” Audrey had apparently said.
Vivian stared at her daughter.
“Why would you tell him that?”
“Because every time he thought we were failing, he became someone I couldn’t live with.”
Vivian thought of Damon’s fist.
Audrey wiped her face.
“I kept thinking if I could buy us another month, he’d calm down.”
Another month.
May you like
The same phrase Damon had used in the foyer.
Vivian finally understood why those particular words had sounded rehearsed.
