Sharp, quick, and pleased with itself.
Then Daniel spoke.
“She’s a burden, Mel. She just doesn’t see it. We’ve held our lives back long enough.”
The towels slipped from my arms.
For a few seconds, I did not move.
The recording kept going.
Melissa said, “Once the house is sorted out, everything gets easier.”
Not once Mum feels settled.
Not once Mum is safe.
Once the house is sorted out.
That was when the air seemed to leave the room.
People imagine betrayal arrives with shouting.
Sometimes it arrives in the ordinary sound of your child forgetting to end a call.
I sat on the bed for a long time after the message ended.
The towels were still on the floor.
