Chapter 7
When Daniel asked why, Lauren finally cried.
Not soft tears.
Angry ones.
“You have no idea what it was like,” she said. “I married you, Daniel. Not your mother. I didn’t sign up to be a nurse.”
Daniel looked at Margaret sitting quietly at the kitchen table.
“You didn’t have to be a nurse,” he said. “You had to be human.”
Lauren wiped at her face.
“She ruined everything. Every call with you was about her. Every plan, every dollar, every minute. I was alone too.”
For one second, Daniel’s expression softened.
Not with forgiveness.
With disappointment.
“You should have told me you were overwhelmed.”
“I tried.”
“No,” Daniel said. “You told me she was dramatic. You told her not to tell me. You moved her out of her room. You fed her leftovers in the kitchen like a dog.”
Lauren’s face twisted.
“That is not fair.”
Daniel picked up the hospital form.
“Neither was this.”
The next morning, Daniel drove Margaret to the hospital himself.
The cardiologist looked at her records and immediately ordered more tests.
Margaret had been far closer to danger than Lauren admitted.
Daniel sat beside her hospital bed, holding her hand.
Margaret kept apologizing.
“I didn’t want to come between you and your wife.”
Daniel leaned forward, tears burning behind his eyes.
“Mom, you are not between us. You’re the reason I know what love looks like.”
While Margaret rested, Daniel called an attorney.
Then he went home.
Lauren was waiting in the living room.
Two suitcases stood by the door.
For one second, Daniel thought she was leaving.
Then he saw what she had packed.
May you like
His mother’s clothes.
Read Part 8 to find out why Lauren had no right to pack Margaret’s bags in the first place.
