Chapter 8
Walter ordered two men to stop Martin.
He admitted that only after Martin did.
“I was protecting the family.”
Martin laughed.
“You were protecting yourself.”
Walter’s face hardened.
“You wanted to bring Joanna.”
“Yes.”
“And what would she have done?”
I answered.
“Saved my husband.”
Walter turned.
“No.”
“What?”
“You would have chosen Adam over order.”
I almost laughed.
“He was dying.”
“Exactly when leaders make dangerous decisions.”
Lydia nodded.
“Grief makes women foolish.”
I stared at her.
“You let your son die because you were worried I would become emotional?”
“He made the choice.”
“No.”
“He refused.”
Heather whispered:
“He wouldn’t say yes.”
That sentence was so small.
So monstrous.
Adam had been hurt.
Weak.
Still they demanded submission.
“What happened after he collapsed?”
Martin looked at the floor.
“Walter sent me outside.”
“Then?”
“I heard Lydia shouting.”
My mother-in-law scoffed.
“I was trying to wake him.”
Martin continued:
“Then Heather came out crying.”
I looked at her.
She began crying again now.
“What happened?”
Heather whispered:
“He stopped breathing.”
“Did you call anyone?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Dad said it was too late.”
Walter interrupted:
“It was.”
“How did you know?”
Silence.
There was no doctor.
No medic.
Only Walter deciding.
Lydia leaned toward me.
“Adam had made his position clear.”
I stared.
“You sound disappointed he didn’t die obediently.”
Her face hardened.
“He died a Miller.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“He died trapped with the people who were supposed to love him.”
Louisa started crying.
Lydia looked at her.
“Oh, stop.”
I turned sharply.
“She’s hearing how her father died.”
“And making it about herself.”
Louisa buried her face against me.
Something inside me went very quiet.
I looked at Martin.
“What happened to you?”
“I tried to leave for Joanna.”
Walter’s jaw tightened.
“Martin was unstable.”
“They locked me in the storage room.”
“For how long?”
“Two days.”
My eyes moved to Walter.
Then Lydia.
Then Heather.
Adam died.
Martin was imprisoned.
And afterward they created a clean accident story.
May you like
The family had not survived tragedy.
It had manufactured one.
