Chapter 13
Delia finally asked to speak with Sofia alone.
Sofia said no.
Delia became furious.
“She is hiding behind you.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“She refuses to face me.”
“That is her right.”
“She’s my sister-in-law.”
“So?”
Delia stared.
The word offended her.
Family title without guaranteed access was apparently unimaginable.
“She needs to hear my side.”
“No.”
“You’re controlling what she hears.”
I almost laughed.
“Do you hear yourself?”
Her face tightened.
She had spent five months controlling Sofia’s environment and now called Sofia’s boundary control.
Classic.
“What is your side?”
Delia folded her arms.
“I was trying to make her understand this life.”
“By calling her maid?”
“She behaved like one.”
“By hitting her?”
“She became disrespectful.”
“By threatening Lily?”
“I never threatened Lily.”
I stared.
“You told Sofia I’d keep Lily if she left.”
“That was Marcus.”
“You let him.”
Silence.
“And the group chat?”
Delia looked away.
Humiliation.
Finally.
Not remorse.
Embarrassment.
I saw the difference.
“You’re sorry people saw you.”
Her jaw tightened.
“That’s unfair.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You still describe everything you did as something Sofia caused.”
She opened her mouth.
Stopped.
Good.
I continued.
“When you can tell the story without blaming my wife once, maybe then she’ll decide whether to hear it.”
Delia stared at me.
“That could take years.”
May you like
“Yes.”
For the first time, she understood consequences did not have to fit her preferred schedule.
