The grocery bags still sat untouched on the counter, an absurd reminder of the warm family dinner she had imagined on the plane.
“Why is the apartment so clean?” she asked.
Daniel released a long breath.
“Because Noah cannot tolerate anything being moved. Since the breakdown, every object that is out of place reminds him of the car after the crash. I clean during the night. Not because we’re doing well, Evelyn. Because we’re trying to survive.”
She stared at her hands.
She had returned believing she would be the one to rescue them.
For four months, she had paid the bills and negotiated contracts.
But she had neglected everything that could not be measured through money.
Still, another question remained lodged inside her chest.
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“Why didn’t you force me to come home?”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“Because whenever I tried to speak to you, you reminded me how valuable your project was. Because you said this opportunity was ‘for the family.’ Because for years you turned every absence into a sacrifice and every complaint into proof that we were ungrateful.”
