“No.” I cut her off sharply. “Don’t do that. Don’t try to rewrite what happened just twenty minutes ago. You said exactly what you meant to say. You did exactly what you meant to do, and now you have to live with the consequences.”
Her father cleared his throat, uncomfortable. “Well… this is certainly unexpected, Marlene. Dear, maybe we should discuss this in private. As a family.”
“As a family,” I repeated, and I couldn’t help a bitter laugh. “Half an hour ago, you told me I wasn’t family, that I was a burden, that I was an embarrassment, that I should keep my distance.”
Marlene’s mother tried to intervene with her fake, sweet voice. “Helen, dear, we all say things when we’re tired or stressed. Surely you can forgive a little.”
“A little what?” I interrupted. “A little mistake? A little humiliation? You left me without food at a family dinner. You treated me as if I were invisible. You told me I wasn’t good enough for my own granddaughter.”
I shook my head. “That is not a little mistake. It’s a revelation of character.”