CHAPTER 13: THE INVITATION
My mother called me two months later.
I almost didn't answer.
But something made me pick up.
"Rachel," she said. Her voice was flat. Tired. "I need to talk to you."
"What about?"
"Your father told me you've been seeing each other."
"Yes."
"He said you've forgiven him."
"I've been working on it."
"And me?"
There was a pause.
"You haven't asked for forgiveness," I said. "You haven't even said you're sorry."
"Because I'm not."
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
"Not sorry for anything?"
"I'm sorry you took things the way you did. I'm sorry you couldn't understand that I was trying to hold the family together."
"By humiliating me?"
"I was trying to be fair. Everyone had a role. You were the one with the money. That was your role."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Mom, I wasn't a role. I was your daughter."
"No," she said. "You were a resource. And you stopped being useful. So I stopped needing you."
I hung up.
I didn't cry.
I didn't even feel angry.
I felt relieved.
Because she'd finally told me the truth.
And the truth meant I could let her go forever.
I blocked her number, deleted the contact, and made a promise to myself.
No more people who saw me as something to use.
May you like
I was done being used.
I was finally, completely, unapologetically free.
