He also stopped speaking to Natalie.
Not officially.
No declaration.
He simply had nothing to say.
At dinner he answered his parents.
If Natalie asked for salt, he passed it.
If she asked a real question, he gave one-word answers.
Angela hated it.
She did not force him.
Good.
David lasted four days.
On Thursday evening, he stood in Noah’s doorway.
“You two can’t live like this forever.”
Noah looked up from his desk.
“It’s been four days.”
“I know.”
“Then that seems early for forever.”
David sighed.
“I’m not asking you to forgive her immediately.”
“You kind of are.”
“No.”
“You’re standing in my room telling me silence is a problem.”
“I’m saying eventually—”
“Dad.”
Noah turned toward him.
“Why are you more uncomfortable with me not talking to her than you were when she told us why she deleted it?”
David stopped.
“That’s not fair.”
“Why?”
“I was shocked.”
“So was I.”
David entered.
Sat on the desk chair.
“Noah.”
“What?”
“I handled that meeting badly.”
“Yes.”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“That Natalie would lose Ohio State.”
Noah laughed.
“Exactly.”
David looked down.
“I spent years telling her college was the goal.”
“Grades.”
“Activities.”
“Leadership.”
“She did everything.”
“When Dr. Harris started listing consequences, my brain went straight to protecting what she worked for.”
Noah stared.
“And mine?”
David closed his eyes.
“There.”
He nodded.
“That is where I failed you.”
Noah’s anger shifted.
Not gone.
Different.
David continued.
“Your assignment was restored, so my mind treated the immediate damage as fixed.”
“That was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“It was yours.”
“Someone entered it.”
“Deleted it.”
“And intended to cost you something important.”
Noah looked away.
His father continued.
“I’m sorry.”
Noah nodded slightly.
Then:
“You did ignore Natalie.”
David’s expression changed.
“What?”
“She was right about some of it.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Noah looked at him.
“I mean I did too.”
David waited.
Noah continued.
“When she got into Ohio State, I said congratulations from upstairs.”
“I didn’t even go downstairs.”
“Then Grandpa called me about the project and I talked for an hour.”
David smiled sadly.
“You were excited.”
“So was she.”
“Yes.”
They sat quietly.
Families rarely had one villain because they rarely had one cause.
Natalie had done the worst thing.
Deliberately.
That remained true.
It was also true that the family had built a scoreboard no one admitted existed.
Natalie was responsible for winning.
Noah was responsible for surprising them.
Once he started surprising them, everyone watched.
Natalie’s consistency became invisible.
That explained jealousy.
It did not excuse sabotage.
Both.