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“I’m happier since I left,” she sobs. “I never think about you and Annie,
and I’m happier without you.” She breaks down as if the words are painful
to say.
The sadness creeps up my throat, and I feel tears threatening. But I
stand up, straighten my spine, and look down at her.
“Thank you,” I reply.
Turning, I walk for the door but stop, speaking to her with my back
turned. “When your other daughter, Emma, turns eighteen, I will be
introducing myself to her,” I state. “Do yourself a favor and don’t be an
asshole. Prepare her before that time comes.”
And I open the door, leaving the office.
I step into the empty hallway and make my way for the entrance, the
distance between my mother and me growing. With every step, I feel
stronger.
I won’t regret leaving, I say to myself. I won’t think about you a single
day from now on. I’m happier without you, and I don’t need you.
I’ll never look for you again.
“Did you ask her why she left?”
“No.” I sit against the wall in Annie’s room with Ryen resting against
me between my legs.
“You’re not curious about her reasoning?” she presses. “How she would
justify it?”
“I used to wonder. But now I… I don’t know.” It’s not that that I don’t
care, but…“If someone doesn’t want us, we need to stop wanting them. I
used to tell myself that, and now I believe it,” I tell her. “It’s not so hard,
facing her and walking away. If she wanted to explain, she would’ve. If she