Her father shifted in his chair.“Nicole?—”
She whirled on him.“Don’t.Don’t you dare.I know exactly what you thought back then.That I was too young, too naïve, that Tripp Masterson would never actually marry me.But we did, and then you interfered.”
The words cracked through the kitchen like a whip.
Silence.The kind that made the clock on the wall tick louder, the refrigerator hum too sharply.
Her mother took off her glasses and folded them with careful precision, as if buying time.“We only wanted what was best for you.”
Nicole’s pulse stumbled.“What does that mean?”
Her father cleared his throat, eyes dropping to the table.“Sometimes parents have to make choices their children don’t understand.”
Her heart lurched, cold flooding her veins.“Choices?”Her voice rose, raw.“Are you telling me that she’s right?That my own parents had something to do with the annulment?”
Her mother’s hand clenched, the pencil in her grip snapping clean in two.
The sound was small, but it detonated inside Nicole.
Her father looked at the broken pencil, then at her.His expression sagged with guilt.“We thought we were protecting you.”
Nicole reeled back, a sob catching in her throat.“Protecting me?From what?From love?From the only boy I ever—” She cut herself off, but the words hung between them, alive and sharp.
Her mother’s chair screeched as she pushed it back.“Do not raise your voice to me, Nicole.”
It was a defense move.She was trying to make her feel like a child again, but it wasn’t going to work.
Nicole’s laugh was jagged, half-hysterical.“Don’t raise my voice?You admit you destroyed my life, and you want me to keep quiet?You didn’t just stand by while Tripp’s mother tore us apart, you helped her, didn’t you?You stood with her.”
Her mother flinched, just barely, but it was enough.
Her father stood abruptly and paced to the sink.He gripped the counter, his shoulders slumped.
“We thought it was the right thing,” he said, his voice hoarse.
Nicole’s vision blurred with tears.“The right thing?You let me believe for twenty years that I wasn’t good enough.That he didn’t want me.You let me carry that shame while you sat here eating roast chicken and working crossword puzzles.”
“Nicole—” Her mother’s voice cracked, sharp with control.
“No!”Nicole’s scream shook the air, raw and furious.“Don’t you dare try to spin this.Don’t you dare tell me you did it for my own good.You lied.You interfered.You?—”
The people she trusted above all others had been tangled in this debacle, betraying her in the worst way.Her throat closed around the words.Rage.Grief.Betrayal.It all choked her until she could barely breathe.
She grabbed her briefcase, her fingers trembling.“I can’t look at either of you right now.”
Her father turned, anguish on his face.“Please, just let us explain?—”
“No!”She backed toward the door, her chest heaving.“You’ve had twenty years to explain.And you said nothing.Nothing!”
Her mother reached out a hand, but Nicole yanked the door open, hot air rushing in.
“If you really thought you were protecting me,” she choked out, “then you never knew me at all.I loved Tripp, and he loved me until you ripped us apart.”
The door slammed behind her, rattling the windows.
Outside, the evening air was heavy and hot, cicadas screaming in the trees.Nicole strode to her car, tears spilling unchecked, her whole body trembling.
For years, she had believed Tripp had left her because he didn’t love her enough and it was her fault.
