I have to call a second time for him to stop and turn around with a sigh. “You might have no dignity and tolerate your mother’s offenses, Genevieve, but I do.”
This one feels like a punch in the stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is. All you have to do is open your eyes and see her for what she is: a malicious bitch who’ll make you pay for your sister’s accident until the day she dies. And the only reason she can do that, the reason shewill, is because you not only allow it, you also welcome it. This makes a martyr out of you, and you prefer that to healing and living the life you deserve.”
When his eyes dart to something behind me, I instinctively turn around to notice Mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening, Gen,” he mutters. I watch, torn, as he walks away and pushes the elevator button.
Everything in me wants to follow him. But if I do, a decade of sacrifices and hard work to improve my relationship with my mother goes down the drain. Ten years of eating shit and enduring her cruelty, gone in the snap of a finger because I’m being emotional and impulsive.
Jake enters the elevator when it arrives, not sparing me even a glance. Tears begin to roll down my cheeks as soon as the doors close behind him.
What am I doing? He’s my Ladder Guy, my wombat, my everything. I need to go to him.
The instant I’m about to step in the elevator’s direction, a hand comes to my arm, clasping it firmly. “Don’t deprive us of another daughter, Genevieve,” Mother demands. “It would be too cruel of you.”
“I’m not—that’s not what I’m doing.”
I can’t talk or formulate a coherent sentence. When I attempt to take a step toward the elevator, her hand tightens around my arm and prevents it. “Stay.”
“I need to go to him,” I say between sobs. I’m so upset I can barely breathe.
“No, you need to stay right here with your family.” Her cold hands grab my face to wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks. “There, there, my darling,” she consoles.
Her motherly gestures are so unexpected that I’m taken aback. I don’t expect it either when she pulls me into a hug, wrapping her arms around me.
It’s stiff and unfamiliar, but I’ve waited ten years for any form of affection from her, so it doesn’t even matter. I break down into more sobs. Where’s the relief I expected? Why doesn’t my mother’s embrace alleviate any of this pain?
We stay in this awkward and rigid embrace until she pulls away and rearranges my hair with efficiency. “Come, darling. Let’s return to the others and enjoy some family time together.”
I’m not fully there as I follow her. Everything inside me is being ripped in half between what I want to do and what I must do. My body passes the door with her, but my mind is with Jake, thinking back on all those precious moments we’ve shared.
Couldn’t he hold his tongue for a single evening? Despite knowing how important my parents’ approval was, he didn’t even try to make it work. He made himself the victim, but I’m the one suffering the most.
Mother leads me back to the table and makes me sit in my chair. My attention travels to Jake’s seat, which is now empty of his beautiful presence.
I feel so numb and hollow, so lost, that I can’t even hear the conversation. My brother sets a plate with a serving of strawberry pavlova in front of me, and he gives my shoulder a supportive squeeze.
Jake chose strawberries because I told him it was my favorite fruit. His entire apartment smelled sweet and fruity yesterday from the homemade jam.
Another tear rolls down my cheek while I stare down at the carefully constructed dessert. I craved to taste this all day long, but if I take even a bite, I’ll break down into pieces.
Why couldn’t things go smoothly? Why did it have to turn into a bloodbath?
And what the hell am I supposed to do now?
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jake
The Sting Ray makes a worrying soundwhen I slam the door shut. That’s enough to make me realize I need to calm the fuck down before I drive away. With my hands on the steering wheel, I force myself to take long and deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. It doesn’t help that Gen’s fancy perfume still lingers in the confined space.
What the fuck just happened? Did Gen really expect me to stay and sit like a well-trained dog? The only way that was happening was if her bitch of a mother left, which wasn’t something I could demand.
Sitting through dinner and watching Gen’s fucked up dynamic with her parents had been hard enough, but seeing the way she allowed them to treat her… Her father didn’t care for what she had to say, something I’d easily noticed because any time she spoke, he either cut her off or began another conversation with his son. But while his indifference was insulting, it was her mother’s behavior that I despised the most. Vivienne never missed an opportunity to bring Gen down, often under the pretense of being a caring mother. But there’s nothing motherly or caring about that woman.
My hands tighten around the leather, my knuckles turning white. Gen is an intelligent woman, probably the smartest I’ve ever met, so how can she be so clueless about this? About them? How can she not see that this fucked up relationship is beyond toxic?
