Chapter 22 - ROBERT MEETS LILY
Lily was twenty-one when she chose one meeting.
Robert was seventy-eight.
Older.
Thinner.
Still proud.
Mediated office.
I did not attend.
Alexander waited elsewhere in the building.
Lily told us later.
First question:
“Why did you push Mom when she was holding me?”
Robert answered:
“I was angry.”
“That’s how.”
He looked surprised.
“What?”
“Why?”
He sat silently.
Then:
“Because I believed your mother had taken my son away from the family, and that day everything felt like proof I had lost control.”
“I was three.”
“I know.”
“Did you care if I got hurt?”
His eyes filled.
“I told myself Emma would protect you.”
Lily stared.
“That’s disgusting.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Mom didn’t spill the wine?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know I didn’t?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because facts stopped mattering to me when I was angry.”
Better than excuse.
Then she asked:
“Did you hate me because my trust thing took your vote?”
Robert shook his head.
“I resented what your birth changed.”
“That’s basically worse.”
He laughed once.
Broken.
“Yes.”
The meeting ended after twenty-seven minutes.
No hug.
No forgiveness declaration.
Robert requested another a year later.
Lily said no.
May you like
Never scheduled one.
That was enough.
