He told me not to punish her for a bad moment. I told him it wasn’t a moment, it was a pattern. I hung up when he started talking about family unity, because at that point I knew something neither of them had admitted yet. Bethany wasn’t spiraling. She was just finally falling.
After Emily had confronted Bethany, we didn’t talk about it right away. It wasn’t awkward; we were just quiet. I poured her a glass of wine, and we sat on the couch like nothing had happened. But I could feel something shift between us, not in a bad way, more like settled. Like Emily had drawn a line in permanent ink, and neither of us had to guess where she stood.
Bethany didn’t come back the next day, but she didn’t disappear either. She started sending Emily texts—not me, Emily. Apologies wrapped in manipulation, little paragraphs pretending to be mature, but always ending with some variation of, “He owes me.” Emily ignored everyone, blocked her number after the fourth message.