Chapter 11 - Cullen Had to Admit He Helped the Lie Grow
Cullen did not interfere with Mireya’s treatment himself.
He did something else.
He listened to Tove longer than he should have.
He remembered evenings when Mireya wheezed and he asked:
“Is this real or is she upset?”
He remembered once telling Margaret:
“Don’t rush to the nebulizer every time.”
The shame of that sentence stayed with him.
A respiratory specialist later explained:
“You can evaluate emotional contributors without making a child prove distress before receiving prescribed care.”
Cullen nodded.
He understood.
Tove had manipulated information.
But he had accepted the manipulation partly because it made his life easier.
If Mireya was “dramatic,” then he did not need to confront the possibility that the woman he planned to marry resented his child.
That truth was harder.
So for a while—
May you like
he chose the easier explanation.
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