Chapter 4
On the way home from the party, Brittany
casually mentioned she was going to stay at
a friend’s house for a couple of days
I wasn’t surprised.
Her loser boyfriend, Jake, was about to make
his grand entrance.
She was probably already planning to accept Jake’s invitation to hang out at his parents‘ mansion for a “weekend getaway.”
I remember how desperate I was to keep her away from him, and that’s when things really
く
went sideways with her and me.
She crashed and burned in ninth grade,
getting tattoos and smoking weed.
I found out she was dating Jake, a rich kid,
from her classmates.
So I laid down the law.
I also warned Jake to stay away from my daughter.
I knew a guy like Jake would never marry someone like Brittany, a kid from a broken home.
<
Rich people always look for someone equally
wealthy and powerful.
I didn’t want Brittany to become his plaything.
I tried to convince Brittany to break up with
him, but she wouldn’t.
Then, three months later, Jake moved to
Switzerland.
Brittany blamed me, claiming I forced him to
leave the country.
Her grades went back up after I hired an
expensive tutor.
く
But when she got that offer from Yale, the
first person she wanted to cut loose was me.
After that car accident, I kept asking myself what I did wrong.
Now I know the answer.
Some people are just rotten to the core.
But Brittany was still a minor, and I was still legally responsible for her well–being.
Even though I knew exactly where she was going, I asked anyway: “Where are you going? Who are you going with?”
く
She rolled her eyes.
“Seriously, are you really my mom?” she
whined.
“I told you, I’m going to a friend’s house.”
I pressed her.
“Boyfriend or girlfriend?”
She saw I wasn’t going to let it go, so she
changed her story.
“Okay, fine,” she said, like it was pulling
teeth.
く
“I was going to visit my mom before school
starts.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t
let me go.
!!
“Well, she needs to text me,” I said firmly.
“When she’s picking you up, how long you’ll be there, and when she’s bringing you back.
“I want it all in writing.”
Brittany, typing away on her phone, grumbled under her breath.
く
“God, you’re so annoying,” she muttered.
“You can’t have kids, so you try to control
me…”
I saw her expression in the rearview mirror.
I nearly exploded.
If I didn’t have a legal obligation, I wouldn’t
care if she was hit
care if she was hit by a bus.
