Chapter 7 - Robert Discovered the Notebook
The emails explained how Margaret manipulated events.
The notebook explained why.
Robert found it accidentally in a desk drawer while searching for insurance paperwork.
A red leather journal.
Not a diary.
A ledger.
Names down one side.
Incidents down the other.
Claire refused Christmas Eve.
Claire challenged Sunday schedule.
Claire told Ethan to ignore family call.
Claire objected to Margaret taking charge of Ethan’s birthday.
Then ratings:
Minor.
Concerning.
Serious.
Robert initially thought Margaret was documenting family problems because she was anxious.
Then he reached a page titled:
Signs Ethan Is Pulling Away.
The entries included:
Opened joint account with Claire.
Took vacation without family.
Asked Mom to call before visiting.
Spent Mother’s Day morning with Claire before coming here.
Normal adult marriage.
Recorded as evidence of abandonment.
Robert finally understood.
Margaret did not believe Claire was destroying the family because Claire had actually done something terrible.
Margaret believed any boundary between mother and adult son was destruction.
Claire had not stolen Ethan.
He had grown up.
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Margaret experienced the difference as betrayal.
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