“Exactly.”
She touched my hand.
I gently moved it away.
“You should have remembered that before you ignored my calls.”
My father stood.
“This is emotional blackmail.”
“No.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“This is a boundary.”
Julian closed his folder.
“I think we should let Miranda rest.”
My father pointed toward him.
“You’re putting ideas into her head.”
Julian remained calm.
“She gave me specific instructions. I am only documenting them.”
My father looked back at me.
“You’ll regret this.”
That sentence hurt more than anything else he had said.
Not because I believed him.
Because it confirmed everything.
Even now, he wasn’t asking if I was okay.
He wasn’t asking whether I was afraid.
He was worried about what he had lost.
I looked at the clock.
10:19 p.m.
“Dad,” I said softly.
He stopped at the door.
“If I had died yesterday, would you have come to my funeral?”
His face went pale.
My mother covered her mouth.
I continued.
“Or would you have been too busy helping Lauren arrange her new living room?”
Neither of them answered.
And that silence gave me the answer I needed.
They left shortly afterward.
Julian stayed for another hour.
