Chapter 2: The Call from the Far End of the Table
PART 2 ⬇️
We were halfway through our steaks when my phone started going off.
Daniel.
Seven times in a row.
I let it ring.
Then a text came through from a number I didn't recognize.
*"You need to call me.
There's something you don't know about tonight.
— Aunt Rosalyn"*
I stared at the screen.
Aunt Rosalyn was Daniel's aunt on his father's side.
We hadn't spoken in almost four years.
She had been sitting quietly at the far end of the table tonight — one of the few people who hadn't said a single word during the whole confrontation.
I stepped outside and called her back.
She picked up on the first ring.
"Mark." Her voice was low.
"This wasn't the first time."
I went still.
"What do you mean?"
"Last Thanksgiving.
Your parents brought Ethan early while you were working.
Victoria put him in the laundry room.
Told him the dining room was for adults only." She paused.
"Your mother knew.
She didn't tell you because Victoria threatened to stop hosting the family holidays if anyone made a fuss."
The cold air hit me like a wall.
"How long has this been going on?"
Rosalyn was quiet for a moment.
Then she said something that made my stomach drop completely.
---
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What Aunt Rosalyn said next changed everything Mark thought he knew about his own family.
Click the link below to read the full story — the truth is worse than anyone at that table wanted him to find out.
