Chapter 6 - The Line in the SandTyler's face twisted with rage.
“You're choosing her over me?”
“No,” Eleanor answered.
She looked toward Clara.
Then Leo.
“I'm choosing what is right.”
Tyler laughed bitterly.
“You've lost your mind.”
“Maybe.”
Eleanor's voice trembled.
“But I'm not blind anymore.”
Tyler stepped closer.
For a second, Clara thought he might strike his mother.
Eleanor thought the same.
But she didn't move.
She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her retreat.
“You've spent years teaching everyone in this house to fear you,” she said. “Tonight, that ends.”
Tyler stared at her.
“You think you can destroy me?”
“No.”
Eleanor's voice became quieter.
“You destroyed yourself.”
That sentence landed harder than any scream.
Tyler's fists loosened.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that his control was slipping away.
Clara reached for the duffel bag.
Leo held onto her hand.
Eleanor didn't move.
She remained between them.
A shield.
May you like
A witness.
And finally, a mother who had chosen accountability over denial.
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