Chapter 2: This Isn't the First Time
Part 2 ⬇️
Sandra didn't apologize.
She looked at the receipt, looked at me, and said, "I still don't see why you're making this into something."
I couldn't speak for a moment.
Maya was still on her bed.
She hadn't moved.
She was just watching her mother with an expression I hadn't seen on her before — not anger, not tears.
Something quieter than both.
Like she was filing something away.
"Sandra." I kept my voice low.
"Say sorry to your daughter."
"I made a mistake about the money.
That's all."
"You stood in her doorway and accused her of stealing."
"I asked a question."
"You know that's not what happened."
Sandra set the receipt down on the hallway table and walked toward the kitchen.
Conversation over.
That was it.
I turned back to Maya.
She had put her earbud back in.
That hurt more than anything Sandra had said.
I sat on the edge of her bed and gently pulled the earbud out again.
She let me.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"You didn't deserve that."
She nodded slowly.
Then she said something so quietly I almost missed it.
"This isn't the first time, Dad."
I went still.
"What do you mean?"
She looked at me for a long moment — and then her eyes moved toward the hallway, toward the direction Sandra had walked.
"There's something I never told you."
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What has Maya been hiding — and how long has Sandra been doing this?
The full truth comes out in ways no one expected.
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