Lauren’s face went white.
“So that’s it.”
Adrian stared.
“What?”
“I always knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That I would never matter if she cried loudly enough.”
Emma pressed herself against Jonathan.
Adrian’s voice became almost inaudible.
“Get out.”
Lauren moved closer.
“You are making a life-changing decision while emotional.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I am making the first correct decision since I walked through that door.”
She looked at Jonathan.
“You’re enjoying this.”
He almost laughed.
“No one is enjoying this.”
Lauren looked back at Adrian.
“You think she’s innocent because she’s small?”
“Stop.”
“She lies.”
“Stop.”
“She has been trying to get rid of me since we got married.”
“Stop.”
“She talks about Hannah at dinner.”
Adrian stared.
Lauren continued.
“She keeps photographs in every room.”
“There are four photographs in the entire house.”
“She compares me to her.”
“She’s six.”
“She tells people her mother was prettier.”
Adrian blinked.
“She said that?”
Lauren looked away.
Adrian almost smiled despite the horror of the moment.
“That sounds like Emma.”
“Exactly.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“That sounds like a little girl who misses her mother.”
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“And what am I supposed to be?”
“An adult.”
Silence.
“You were supposed to be the adult.”
Lauren turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Adrian listened to her heels strike the hallway floor.
Then the stairs.
Only when she disappeared did Emma run toward him.
He lifted her.
“I’m sorry.”
The words came out before he had decided to speak.
Emma wrapped herself around him.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“No.”
He pulled back.
“Never apologize for this.”
“I made you mad.”
“You did not.”
“At Lauren.”
“That is not your responsibility.”
“She said if I told, you wouldn’t believe me.”
Adrian stopped.
“What?”
Emma’s face changed immediately.
As though she realized she had revealed something forbidden.
He kept his voice gentle.
“When did she say that?”
Emma looked toward Jonathan.
Then back.
“Sometimes.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say?”
Emma whispered, “She said you loved her and you didn’t want me making problems.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Jonathan turned away.
Adrian pressed his daughter against his chest.
His anger became something else.
Shame.