The front door slammed just as I was about to take a sip, and my stomach dropped.
I knew who it was.
Daniel.
He stormed into the living room, his face r with anger.
“Emily, what is your problem?”
His voice was shaking with a mixture of rage and frustration.
I looked up from my glass, taking a slow, deliberate sip before setting it down.
“I think the problem is pretty clear, Daniel.”
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth in front of me.
“You really think this was the right move? You embarrassed me, embarrassed us, in front of my family.”
His voice was rising with each word.
“You’re seriously just going to walk out like that?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re mad because I walked out, or are you mad because I wasn’t the one being humiliated?”
That hit harder than I expected.
Danielk jaw clenched, his eyes flashing with a mix of hurt and anger.
“This isn’t about you, Emily. This is about us, about me. I need you to understand that. You think I want to be stuck in the middle of all this? You think I want to choose between you and my mother?”
I stood up, my calmness betraying the storm inside me.
“You chose her a long time ago, Daniel. Every time you laughed with her, every time you look the other way, you chose her.”
He shook his head, his eyes desperate.
“That’s not fair. She’s my mother.”
“Exactly. And you’ve let her run your life for years. I’ve been nothing more than the person who pays the bills while you’re C up in her drama. Do you know how humiliating that is?”
He took a step toward me, his face softening for just a second.
“I didn’t mean for things to get like this, Emily. But this is my family. I can’t just cut them out.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You can’t just cut them out? You can’t? I’ve been paying your mother’s mortgage for the last 3 years, Daniel, but the second I ask for a little respect, you tell me I’m being unreasonable. Who’s the one being selfish now?”