Chapter 3 - THE LIES START FALLING APART
The next morning, I woke up to voices downstairs.
I couldn’t hear every word.
But I recognized the tone.
Agnes.
She wasn’t crying anymore.
She was angry.
I slowly sat up in bed.
The pain reminded me that I wasn’t healed.
My body was still recovering.
But something inside me had changed.
I wasn’t scared of her anymore.
I walked downstairs quietly.
And I heard my name.
“She’s manipulating you.”
Agnes.
“She knows exactly what she’s doing.”
Leo answered.
“She almost died.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
I reached the bottom step.
“What exactly are you talking about?”
They both turned.
Agnes looked surprised.
Leo looked guilty.
I walked into the room.
“Go ahead.”
Agnes crossed her arms.
“You want honesty?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
She took a breath.
“You’ve changed since you married my son.”
I almost laughed.
“I changed?”
“Yes.”
“You mean I stopped doing everything you wanted?”
Her jaw tightened.
“You became selfish.”
I stared at her.
“I almost died.”
“And we’re sorry.”
The words sounded empty.
Like something she was saying because Leo was watching.
“No,” I said.
“You’re sorry I told him.”
Leo looked down.
Because he knew it was true.
Agnes’s expression hardened.
“You have always had a problem with this family.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I had a problem being treated like I wasn’t part of it.”
Chloe walked in.
“Oh, here we go.”
She grabbed a drink from the fridge.
“Another emotional speech.”
I looked at her.
“Do you remember what happened that day?”
She avoided my eyes.
“You were sick.”
“No.”
My voice became colder.
“I was dying.”
Silence.
Chloe looked uncomfortable.
For the first time.
Actually uncomfortable.
Leo looked at her.
“You were there?”
She froze.
“What?”
“You were there when she collapsed?”
Chloe said nothing.
That silence answered everything.
Leo turned slowly.
“You were there?”
“I didn’t know it was serious.”
My chest tightened.
“You heard me ask for help.”
Chloe looked away.
“I thought you were exaggerating.”
Leo stepped back.
Like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You thought my wife was exaggerating while she was on the floor?”
Nobody answered.
Then Agnes said:
“Enough.”
But Leo didn’t stop.
“No.”
His voice shook.
“I want to understand.”
He looked at his mother.
“Why didn’t anyone call me?”
Agnes shrugged.
“You were working.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She looked annoyed.
“Your trip was important.”
Leo stared at her.
“My wife’s life was important.”
That sentence changed something.
Not in Agnes.
In me.
Because I realized Leo was finally seeing the truth.
Not all of it.
Not yet.
But enough.
Later that afternoon, Leo found my packed suitcase.
He sat beside it quietly.
“You were really leaving.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Without telling me?”
I looked at him.
“I tried.”
His face fell.
“When?”
“When I called after surgery.”
He remembered.
The silence between us became heavy.
“I’m sorry.”
Two words.
Simple.
But they mattered.
Because for the first time, he wasn’t defending anyone.
He was apologizing.
I looked away.
“I don’t know if sorry is enough.”
He nodded slowly.
“I know.”
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His mother.
He almost ignored it.
Almost.
Then he answered.
“Mom?”
The color drained from his face.
“What?”
I watched him stand.
His expression changed.
“What do you mean she threatened you?”
I immediately knew.
Another lie.
Another story.
Leo looked at me.
Then at the phone.
And I knew.
The war had just started.
May you like
Because Agnes had decided to stop pretending.
Now she was fighting back.
