That night of fever and rain changed everything. For years, I had bent myself around my mother’s moods, excusing her sharp words and her selfishness. But watching Emily shiver in my arms, I finally saw her for what she was—not the strong, self-sacrificing mother she claimed to be, but someone who abandoned her grandchild when it mattered most. The silence I chose afterward wasn’t weakness; it was a boundary. And boundaries, I realized, were stronger than any shouted argument could ever be.
Continues…
