Chapter 2 - The House Dividing
""Kendall, sweetie, wait,"" Andrew pleaded, taking a hurried step toward the door.
Kendall didn't run. She didn't scream or slam doors. Instead, she stood completely frozen, a look of profound, devastating clarity washing over her teenage face.
""You did this?"" she asked, her voice dangerously frail. ""All this time... you told me Mara wanted the house to herself. You told me Mara said two teenage stepdaughters were too much baggage for her first real baby.""
My breath caught in my throat. My chest felt so tight I could barely draw oxygen. He hadn't just put it on the form; he had actively poisoned their minds against me for weeks behind closed doors.
""Kendall, listen to me,"" Andrew said, his voice trembling with desperate panic. ""I was trying to help you. Harbor Glen has an elite college prep program. Your grades were slipping so badly you were in danger of repeating sophomore year. You kept telling me you felt suffocated here!""
""Because you stopped looking at us!"" Kendall cried out, the dam finally breaking as tears poured down her cheeks. ""Ever since you announced Mara was pregnant, you act like we’re ghosts haunting your new life! You don't come to my track meets! You missed Lacey’s middle school orchestra concert last month! And whenever we tried to talk to you, you told us we were stressing out Mara!""
Lacey stood behind her sister, clutching Kendall’s sweatshirt, sobbing quietly into the fabric. The thirteen-year-old looked utterly lost, caught between the adults who were supposed to keep her world stable.
""I never said that,"" I spoke up, stepping around the counter so Kendall could see me clearly. My hands were shaking, but my gaze didn't waver. ""Kendall, Lacey... look at me. I swear on the life of the child in my belly, I had no idea about this school. I never asked your father to send either of you anywhere. I decorated that nursery downstairs because I wanted you girls to keep your own bedrooms upstairs, untouched, safe, and entirely yours.""
Kendall looked down at the enrollment contract on the table. She read the bold signature, her father’s handwriting unmistakable in its sharp, familiar slant. She looked up at Andrew, and the heartbreak in her eyes was cold enough to freeze an ocean.
""You lied to me,"" Kendall said flatly. ""You made me destroy her nursery. You made me look like a monster.""
""You chose to ruin that room, Kendall!"" Andrew snapped defensively, his guilt instantly morphing into misplaced anger. ""Don't pin your destructive behavior on me! You ruined baby clothes and broke picture frames like a delinquent!""
""Because I thought she was taking my life away!"" Kendall screamed. She turned on her heel and sprinted up the stairs, the heavy pounding of her sneakers vibrating through the ceiling. A second later, her bedroom door slammed shut with enough force to rattle the kitchen light fixtures.
Lacey stood paralyzed for a moment before looking at Andrew with pure disappointment. ""I hate you,"" the younger girl whispered, before running up the stairs after her sister.
The kitchen fell dead silent, save for the hum of the refrigerator.
""Look what you've done,"" Andrew hissed at me, his face twisted in bitter resentment. ""If you hadn't gone snooping through my private work drawers, we could have handled this quietly. Now the girls are completely traumatized.""
""Your private drawers?"" I repeated, my voice rising in disbelief. ""You stole thirty-six hundred dollars from our joint medical savings account! You blamed me for exiling your daughter! You turned your children into weapons against my unborn baby, and you have the nerve to blame me for finding out?""
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""I am the father in this house, Mara! I make the decisions that keep this family afloat!""
""Not with my money you don't. And certainly not in my name."" I took off my wedding ring and placed it firmly on top of the Harbor Glen papers. ""Pack a bag, Andrew. You need to leave.""
