Chapter 48 - The Mother's Warning
I did not move. I stood my ground, my posture rigidly straight.
"How is Emily?" Patricia asked, her eyes welling with tears. "How is my granddaughter? Please, Carol. I have lost everything. I just want to see a picture of Lily. I just want to know she’s okay."
It was the ultimate, tragic irony. The woman who had treated my daughter like an ungrateful prisoner was now begging me for scraps of information in a parking lot.
"You do not have a granddaughter, Patricia," I said, my voice completely devoid of sympathy. "Lily is happy, she is healthy, and she is perfectly safe. And she is safe precisely because you are not in her life."
Patricia openly wept, covering her face with her hands. "I made mistakes. I know I did. But Ryan is my boy. I was just trying to protect my family."
May you like
"You didn't protect your family," I replied coldly. "You enabled a monster, and it destroyed you. Do not ever approach me again. Do not ever look for Emily. If you come anywhere near my family, I will have you arrested for harassment."
I turned and walked to my car. I didn't look back. I felt no guilt. Some bridges do not deserve to be rebuilt; they deserve to be burned to ensure the monsters can never cross them again.
