Chapter 4 - The Step-Son's Choice
Heavy footsteps echoed from the internal stairwell.
Leo, now sixteen years old, walked down into the empty apartment holding his backpack and a single duffel bag.
Eleanor immediately rushed over to her grandson, trying to pull him behind her.
"Leo! Go back to your room!" Eleanor ordered loudly.
"Don't listen to this bitter woman!"
"She's trying to ruin your father's life out of jealousy!"
Leo pushed Eleanor's hands away gently, but firmly.
He walked past his grandmother, past his father, and stopped right in front of me.
He looked down at my small suitcase, then looked at the bare apartment around us.
"You're really leaving, Sarah?" Leo asked, his voice rough and deep.
"Yes, Leo," I said gently, my heart aching for the quiet boy I had raised for five years.
"I have to go."
"Your father and grandmother made their decision."
Leo turned around and looked at Eleanor, his eyes filled with years of unexpressed resentment.
"I heard everything you said to her last night, Grandma," Leo said, his voice ringing through the empty room.
"You told her she wasn't a real mother."
"You told her she didn't belong here."
"Leo, darling, I was protecting you!" Eleanor pleaded, reaching out for him.
"She hated you! She wanted you gone!"
"No, she didn't," Leo snapped back, his voice rising with long-suppressed emotion.
"Sarah was the one who stayed up with me until two in the morning when I had panic attacks!"
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"Sarah was the one who came to every single one of my swim meets while Dad was 'working late'!"
"You lied to me about her my whole life, Grandma!"
