Chapter 6
Margaret took the accusation personally.
Not because I blamed her.
Because Tove had tried to make Mireya doubt her.
My mother sat beside me that evening.
“She told Mireya I hide her medicine.”
I looked at her.
“When?”
“Last week.”
My jaw tightened.
“What exactly?”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“She said Grandma gets confused because she’s old.”
There it was.
Another hierarchy.
Tove could not simply disagree with Margaret.
She needed to weaken the child’s trust in her.
“Mireya believed her?”
“For a day.”
That hurt.
“What happened?”
“Mireya asked me where the spare was.”
“And?”
“I couldn’t find it.”
Of course.
Tove had created proof for her own lie.
First hide the medication.
Then tell Mireya Margaret loses things.
Then let the missing item confirm the story.
Efficient.
Ugly.
I looked at my mother.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked ashamed.
Because Tove had told her I was tired of Margaret interfering with parenting.
Again.
My name.
Used as a closed door.
“She said you wanted distance between me and Mireya.”
I stared.
Never.
Not once.
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“I thought maybe you did.”
That sentence hurt more than anger.
Tove had not only targeted my daughter.
She had begun dismantling the people around her who would challenge Tove’s authority after the wedding.
Margaret first.
Staff second.
Me last.
May you like
Isolation does not always start by removing the victim.
Sometimes it starts by convincing every protector they are no longer welcome.
