“You fucker-”
I lunge.
But Jess and Simone are faster. They step between us knowing they’re the only thing keeping that asshole upright in his chair.
“What is wrong with you?” Simone snaps at Darren.
“He started it,” Darren fires back, pointing at me like we’re back in middle school.
“This is ridiculous,” Jess says sharply. “Both of you.”
Manuel speaks quietly, but we all hear him. “Maybe I should leave.”
“No,” Darren snaps immediately. “Stay. It’s my party. I invited you.”
“It’s our daughter’s party,” Simone corrects, her voice cool now.
“Not now, dear,” Darren mutters.
I smirk, watching Simone stare at him like she’s calculating whether she can tip his chair without injuring him permanently. My expression wipes clean when I catch Jess glaring at me.
“Why doesn’t everyone just calm down?” Dad says, voice tight but controlled. “Manuel has every right to be here and-”
I scoff.
Dad looks at me sharply. “What?”
I drag a hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I say to Manuel, then my eyes shift to Dad. “But how exactly does he have a bigger right to be here than Mom?”
“No one told your mother not to come,” Dad defends quickly.
I shrug. “Considering your relationship, maybe you should’ve bowed out.”
A flicker crosses Dad’s face.
“We’ve been bowing out for years,” he says quietly. “How long would you like it to continue?”
“I don’t know,” I fire back. “You duped Mom out of nineteen years of her life. Maybe start there.”
“I did not dupe your mother,” he snaps, the first crack in his composure.
“Sean,” Mom warns softly.
But he keeps going.
“Your mother ended our marriage.”
The room stills.
I laugh once. “Because of him.”
“Manuel,” Dad says firmly, “wasn’t even in the picture then. He wasn’t even on the horizon. We ran into each other by accident years after the divorce.”
I shake my head. “That’s convenient.”
“It’s true,” Darren says quietly.
I don’t look at him.
