Chapter 6 - THE THINGS WE HAD IGNORED
That evening, Nick and I sat at our kitchen table with notebooks.
It was supposed to be the first night of our honeymoon.
Instead, we were making a timeline of his mother’s behavior.
2015.
Fake messages.
2017.
Anonymous complaint to my employer.
2018.
A rental application mysteriously withdrawn.
2019.
Rumors within Nick’s family.
2021.
An anonymous email sent to Nick claiming I was seeing someone else.
2024.
Martha telling relatives I was pressuring Nick to marry me.
2025.
Messages to Caroline.
2026.
The wedding.
The haircut.
Nick stared at the list.
“How did we not see it?”
“We saw pieces.”
I looked at him.
“We just didn’t know they belonged together.”
Nick’s phone rang.
Martha.
He declined it.
She called again.
He declined again.
Then a message arrived.
PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN.
Another followed.
CAROLINE IS MANIPULATING YOU.
Then:
EMILY HAS WANTED TO TURN YOU AGAINST ME FOR YEARS.
Nick stared at the screen.
I said nothing.
A final message appeared.
ASK EMILY ABOUT THE APARTMENT.
I frowned.
“What apartment?”
Nick looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
Then another message arrived.
THE ONE SHE NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT.
I felt my stomach twist.
Nick looked confused.
“Do you know what she means?”
“No.”
And then I remembered.
Six years earlier, before Nick and I moved in together, I had applied for an apartment near my job.
The landlord had approved me.
Two days later, he suddenly reversed his decision.
He said someone had contacted him claiming I intended to move Nick in without putting him on the lease.
I had assumed there was a misunderstanding.
I told Nick the apartment fell through.
I never told him the strange reason.
“Wait.”
I looked at him.
“There was an apartment.”
Nick went still.
“What happened?”
I explained.
When I finished, he asked, “Did you ever find out who called?”
“No.”
His phone rang again.
This time, he answered.
“Mom.”
Martha started speaking immediately.
I could hear her voice from across the table.
“Thank God.”
Nick put the phone on speaker.
“Explain the apartment.”
Silence.
“What apartment?”
“The one you just texted me about.”
Another pause.
Then Martha sighed.
“I was trying to protect you.”
My skin went cold.
Nick looked at me.
“Did you contact Emily’s landlord?”
“I asked questions.”
“You told him she planned to violate the lease.”
“I was concerned.”
“You lied.”
“I did not lie.”
“You knew she was planning to live there alone.”
Martha’s voice sharpened.
“She was pulling you away from your family.”
Nick laughed bitterly.
“She was twenty-four.”
“She was making decisions without considering what they meant for you.”
“It was her apartment.”
“She was becoming independent.”
I stared at the phone.
There it was.
Not concern.
Not protection.
Control.
Nick’s face changed.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“You didn’t hate Emily because she depended on me.”
Martha said nothing.
“You hated her because she didn’t.”
Silence.
Then Martha whispered, “You don’t understand.”
Nick ended the call.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then I realized something.
Martha had just admitted interfering with my apartment.
May you like
Which meant she might admit other things too.
If we asked the right questions.
