“I have never controlled you.”
“Maybe not the way you tried to control Helena.”
I held his eyes.
“But tonight, for the first time in our marriage, I’m asking myself whether I missed it because you were better at making it look like care.”
“I have never controlled you.”
He had no quick answer.
“Tomorrow, we’re going through every account together,” I said. “And until I decide what happens next, there are no more private loans, favors, or promises involving our money.”
“You’re punishing me.”
“No. I’m removing the part where I don’t know what I’m agreeing to.”
“You’re punishing me.”
***
Later that afternoon, Helena called.
“Sophie told one friend why Emma wasn’t invited. It’s getting around.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I was thinking about canceling the party.”
I heard Sophie in the background.
“Mom, no. You already made me lose Emma over this. Please don’t take the party too.”
“What are you going to do?”
Helena went quiet.
Then she said, “I think I’ve made everything worse.”
“You have.”
“I know.”
“But you can stop making decisions for Sophie because you’re scared of Mark.”
“I think I’ve made everything worse.”
Helena exhaled.
“What if Emma doesn’t want to come?”
“Then Sophie needs to hear that from Emma.”
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
“You’re right.”
***
That evening, Emma came downstairs wearing the pale-pink dress.
She held the scrapbook against her chest.
“I’m still angry,” she said.
“You can be angry and still go.”
She nodded once.
“That’s what I’m doing.”
“I’m still angry.”
***
At the party, Sophie came outside before we’d reached the doors.
She looked at Emma and immediately started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma stayed where she was.
“You let me think you hated me.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you hated me.”
“Why?”
Sophie wiped her cheeks.
“Because everything got ugly, and I didn’t know how to explain it without telling you things that weren’t mine to tell.”
Emma’s voice shook. “You could’ve told me it wasn’t me.”
“Because everything got ugly.”
“I should have.”
Sophie looked down.
“After my parents separated, Mom was scared all the time. Bills, the car, everything. Your dad helped us, and for a while… I stopped feeling like everything could fall apart.”
Emma’s face softened.
“I should have.”
“He made me think I had someone in my corner,” Sophie added. “Then Mom stopped taking his advice, and suddenly the help disappeared too.”
She looked at Emma.
“I hated what he did. And I hated that I still felt grateful for what he’d done before.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“You should’ve told me.”
“I hated what he did.”
I married a stranger from a hospital waiting room[]
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