Cold air entered.
“Leave.”
Margaret stared at him.
Then her face changed again.
“You will regret this.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Maybe.”
“You cannot run that company and raise those children alone.”
“I don’t have to do it alone.”
“You pushed away Rebecca.”
“She can decide whether she wants back in.”
“You fired the nanny.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Margaret stopped.
He stared.
“What did you say?”
Nothing.
Daniel closed the door again.
“You told me Melissa quit.”
Margaret’s face shifted.
“She did.”
“No.”
“You just said I fired her.”
Margaret looked away.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What happened?”
“She was interfering.”
“With what?”
“Discipline.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“What did you do?”
“She undermined me in front of the children.”
“How?”
“She kept giving Amelia special treatment.”
“What special treatment?”
Margaret did not answer.
Daniel already knew.
“Food?”
Silence.
“Did Melissa catch you making Amelia eat on the floor?”
“It was not like that then.”
“Then what was it like?”
Margaret snapped:
“She kept letting the girl get away with things Noah never could.”
“Like?”
“She would let Amelia leave vegetables.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s it?”
“She refused chores.”
“She’s six.”
“She’s old enough to put toys away.”
“Melissa made her put toys away.”
“That is not the same.”
“Nothing is the same because you decided she is different.”
Margaret grabbed the suitcase handle.
“Believe whatever you want.”
Daniel stepped aside.
“I intend to.”
She reached the doorway.
Then looked back.
“You think Laura would approve of turning your back on your mother?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Margaret knew instantly she had gone too far.
He said:
“Do not use my wife to defend what you did to her daughter.”
Margaret opened her mouth.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Leave before I stop paying for the hotel.”
She left.
Daniel locked the door.
Then stood with his forehead against it.
For almost a minute, he did not move.
The house behind him was silent.
No laughter.
No plates.
No garlic bread.
Just the refrigerator humming.
Then tiny footsteps came down the stairs.
Daniel turned.
Amelia stood halfway down.
Sunny beside her.
“Is Grandma gone?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
The word hurt.
Daniel walked toward her.
“She won’t live here anymore.”
Amelia stared.
“Because I told?”
“No.”
He sat on the step below her.
“Because of what she did.”
Amelia looked down.
“Is she mad at me?”
“Probably.”
“Is that bad?”
“No.”
“You are not responsible for grown-ups being angry when someone tells the truth.”
She absorbed that.
Then:
“Is Aunt Rebecca mad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is Mason?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Mason told the truth too.”