"Uncle Oliver! Is it really that hard for you to accept my dad?" she snapped. "He's not even back yet and you're already threatening to divorce my mom?"
She wasn't finished.
"Let me tell you something—no matter what you do, you'll never be half the man my dad is! Everything you've done these past ten years? It just makes you more pathetic!"
Her words were sharper than her mother's. Sara's betrayal stung, but Elise's rejection carved straight through bone. I had raised her. I had fed her, taught her, stayed up all night when she had nightmares. And now?
Before Francis even set foot back in this house, I had already become nothing.
My vision blurred again and I could barely steady my breath.
My voice, hoarse and quiet, came out once more.
"Sara, let's get a divorce."
Before the mother and daughter in front of me could respond, a piercing voice snapped from behind.
"Oliver! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
I turned. My parents were here.
Elise immediately launched herself into my mother's arms, tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice trembling with practiced outrage.