“Oh, baby.”
Malik looked toward her.
For the first time since Adrian entered, the boy's expression softened.
“Grandma.”
Evelyn approached him.
She stopped a respectful distance away.
Then looked toward Adrian.
“Did you see it?”
Adrian stared.
“See what?”
She looked at the stained hoodie.
Then toward Vanessa.
For a moment, her expression became hard.
“Did you finally see what she's been doing to him?”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Evelyn, this is a private family matter.”
The older woman turned.
Her voice was quiet.
“That's what you told me last time.”
Vanessa's face went pale.
Adrian looked between them.
“What last time?”
Neither woman answered immediately.
Evelyn looked toward her grandson.
Then toward Zuri.
For a moment, her expression softened.
“Children, you haven't done anything wrong.”
Malik lowered his head.
Zuri began crying silently.
Evelyn turned toward Adrian.
“Son, I've been trying to tell you something for weeks.”
Adrian felt his stomach drop.
“What?”
She raised her phone.
“I wasn't sure how bad it was until I found the recordings.”
Vanessa moved forward so quickly that Camille stood from her chair.
“Evelyn, don't you dare.”
The older woman didn't move.
“Sit down, Vanessa.”
Her voice was calm.
Vanessa froze.
Adrian looked toward his mother.
“What recordings?”
Evelyn swallowed.
For a moment, her eyes filled.
Then she said something that made the room feel suddenly smaller.
“Adrian, your boy hasn't been eating dinner with this family for months.”
Malik closed his eyes.
Evelyn continued.
“And that plate she just threw at him?”
She looked directly at her son.
“That wasn't the first one.”
Adrian stared.
“No.”
His mother nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“She's exaggerating.”
Evelyn looked at her.
Then raised the phone.
“Then you won't mind him seeing what happened on Tuesday.”
Vanessa went completely still.
Adrian heard a chair scrape against the floor.
Camille was standing.
She looked toward the door.
Then toward her sister.
And whispered something Adrian almost missed.
“Vanessa, please stop lying.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Adrian reached for his mother's phone.
His hand was shaking.
He looked at Malik.
The boy was staring at the floor, tears silently running down his cheeks.
Adrian swallowed.
Then whispered.
“Mom, how long?”
Evelyn's expression broke.
“Longer than any of us understood.”
He looked at the phone.
And for the first time in eighteen months, Adrian Brooks began to realize that the beautiful family life he'd been trying so hard to protect might have been built on the suffering of his own child.