Chapter 23 - ETHAN FACES ISABELLA
I did not attend.
Neither did William.
A therapist facilitated.
Ethan told us afterward.
First question:
“Why did you say put me back?”
Isabella cried.
Ethan waited.
Finally:
“Because when Emma opened the wall, I was still thinking about the folder.”
Not love.
Not discipline.
The folder.
“That’s what I thought.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why the bone?”
“I wanted to humiliate you.”
No euphemism.
“Why?”
“Because you were a child refusing me, and I believed adults with authority should win.”
Ethan nodded.
“Did you love Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love me?”
“I wanted to.”
“That’s not yes.”
“No.”
The answer hurt.
It also liberated him.
Not every abusive stepmother secretly loves the child deep down.
People can fail to love.
Children survive that too.
Ethan ended the meeting after twenty-one minutes.
No forgiveness.
No second meeting scheduled.
He said later:
May you like
“I don’t hate her enough to need another.”
That was his closure.
