After New Year’s, Emily brought home Daniel—looking mature and steady—with love shining in her eyes.
That was when I knew I couldn’t stop it anymore.
In the car, the city’s noise flowed outside while silence sat between me and my daughter.
I sighed, about to speak, when Emily whispered:
“Mom, am I stupid? I knew Daniel and Rachel were too close, but I still wanted to marry him.”
“He even wore those pants and handed the key to Rachel…”
Her fists clenched on her lap.
I patted her hand. “Better to see the truth now than later. You’re not married yet. It’s not too late to walk away.”
“What about Dad?”
I snapped, “He hasn’t cared about you for years. He has no right to interfere.”
Her phone buzzed nonstop, messages piling up.
She glanced at the screen, silenced it, and after several more attempts, turned it off completely.
At home, I warmed her a glass of milk.
Before bed, she poured her heart out—about meeting Daniel, dating him, and how things changed.
“I don’t get it. He said he loved me. Why is he tangled up with another woman?”
She gripped my hand. “And Mom, I’m sorry. I know how much you hate Susan’s family, yet I still ended up tied to them.”
I ruffled her hair. “Nonsense. Your father’s with Susan now. We were bound to run into them eventually.”
Emily had clarity in her mind, but her heart still clung to Daniel.
I worried that if he came groveling with sweet words, she’d forgive him again.
But before Daniel showed up, Susan came to see me first.
She asked me to meet at a coffee shop and brought Rachel along.
The moment the waiter set down our coffee, Rachel dropped to her knees.
“Ma’am, Daniel and I have been roughhousing since we were kids. We even bathed together and shared underwear once. I never saw him as a man. I was just joking around, and he went along to humor me. There’s nothing inappropriate between us.”
I stirred my coffee and chuckled. “You’re right—nothing inappropriate, since your whole relationship is out in the open.”
Rachel’s face froze. She stood up stiffly. “If not for wanting to protect his happiness, I wouldn’t even be here.”
She huffed and stormed off toward the bathroom.
Susan shot me an awkward glance before following her.
Inside the bathroom, Susan jabbed her finger at Rachel’s forehead.
“Can’t you just keep quiet for once?”
Rachel snapped back, “Mom, that old hag acts so superior. She’s just a discarded wife nobody wants!”