Celeste’s POVI sat across from my mother again, the same wooden table between us.The last time we sat here, I’d left shaking, filled with rage, disbelief, grief, betrayal… all of it tangled so tightly inside my chest that I could barely breathe.Today wasn’t calmer.It was simply less explosive, the kind of heaviness that sits on the skin like humidity before a storm.Mother watched me with tired eyes, her fingers wrapped around a mug of tea she hadn’t touched.She had aged in the last few days. Or maybe I was only now seeing the lines in her face clearly.I could finally see every lie she’d held, every night she’d cried alone, every effort she’d made to keep the truth buried for my sake.“Thank you for coming,” she said finally, voice small.“I didn’t have a choice,” I answered, my honesty sharper than I intended. “I can’t keep pretending everything is normal.”She flinched. A part of me hated that I caused that. Another part, still raw after the revelation, felt justified.I inhale
Last Updated : 2025-12-05 Read more