Chapter 9 - Celina Was the First One to Break
Celina called Rafael the next morning before the governance meeting.
She sounded nothing like the woman who laughed at Emmett.
“I didn’t know she was going that far.”
Rafael almost hung up.
Instead he asked:
“How far did you think she was going?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
Celina admitted Lucille had told her the family needed to “show everyone Rafael’s temperament.”
She knew they wanted Emmett upset.
She knew Derek was supposed to challenge Rafael afterward.
But she claimed the spaghetti humiliation was Lucille’s spontaneous choice.
“Then why did you laugh?”
Celina began crying.
“Because Mom was looking at me.”
Rafael closed his eyes.
There it was.
Another adult obeying Lucille because disobedience felt harder than cruelty.
“You’re thirty-eight,” Rafael said.
“I know.”
“He’s three.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now.”
May you like
Celina had no answer.
---
Related Stories
