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<\/p>\nOliver moved closer to my leg, hiding behind me as he looked at his grandmother with genuine fear.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going with my mommy, and I do not want to stay here with any of you,\u201d Oliver said, his voice small but very brave.<\/p>\n
Beatrice\u2019s face hardened into a mask of pure spite, and Thomas took a threatening step toward us.<\/p>\n
I hugged my son tightly to my side, grabbed my suitcase, and forced the front door open, stepping out into the cold, pouring rain.<\/p>\n
A taxi was waiting at the curb, and as I hauled our bags toward it, I heard Beatrice call out from behind the screen door.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet her go, because she will be crawling back within the week since women like Lucinda cannot function without a husband,\u201d she shouted into the dark night.<\/p>\n
I did not turn around, and I did not give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry as I climbed into the taxi with my son.<\/p>\n
My heart was pounding so hard that it was difficult to breathe, but I felt a sense of liberation that I had never known before.<\/p>\n
I asked the driver to take us to my parents\u2019 home in a quiet neighborhood on the other side of the city.<\/p>\n
When we pulled up to the driveway, it was nearly midnight, but my mother was already at the door in her bathrobe, having sensed something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, my dear girl, come inside,\u201d she said, pulling us into her warm, soft embrace the moment I stepped out of the taxi.<\/p>\n
My father, Don, a retired professor who lived for peace and quiet, listened in total silence as I recounted the story of the lobster and the lint-covered meat.<\/p>\n
When I reached the part about what Oliver had overheard, my father slammed his fist onto the wooden kitchen table, causing my son to jump in his sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not family, and no one will ever treat my daughter like that under my roof again,\u201d he declared, his voice trembling with protective rage.<\/p>\n
We barely slept that night, and the next morning, I was busy warming up milk for Oliver when we heard aggressive shouting out in the street.<\/p>\n
I looked out the window and saw Beatrice, Thomas, and Cassandra marching toward our front door as if they were coming to a battlefield.<\/p>\n
Beatrice was screaming for me to come out and hand over my grandson, looking more furious than I had ever seen her.<\/p>\n
My father calmly opened the door, standing his ground as he looked at them with a mixture of pity and steel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this house, people speak with respect or they do not speak at all,\u201d he said, blocking them from entering the house.<\/p>\n
Thomas pushed past him without even a word of greeting, his eyes searching the room for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucinda, that is enough of this nonsense, so grab your things and get back in the car before my mother gets any more worked up,\u201d Thomas demanded.<\/p>\n
I looked at him, noticing for the first time how unkempt he looked in the same clothes he had worn the day before.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother is not worked up because of me; she is upset because the person who paid the electricity, the rent, and your sister\u2019s cravings has finally stopped providing for you,\u201d I said coldly.<\/p>\n
Beatrice raised her hand in the air, her face twisting in indignation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have such a venomous tongue, and everything you own is thanks to the prestigious reputation of the Scott surname,\u201d she retorted.<\/p>\n
My mother emerged from the kitchen, looking as calm and collected as a queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Beatrice, everything my daughter has is the result of her own labor, and her hands are chapped from years of working while you have never worked a day in your life,\u201d she countered.<\/p>\n
Cassandra let out a dismissive laugh, adjusted her sunglasses, and placed a hand on her belly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, stop being so dramatic, because a lobster head is just a piece of food and it certainly isn\u2019t going to kill anyone,\u201d she said, rolling her eyes.<\/p>\n
Oliver, who had been listening from the hallway, suddenly stepped out and looked at his aunt with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurt my mommy, and that makes it wrong,\u201d he said, his voice echoing in the sudden, thick silence of the room.<\/p>\n
Thomas tried to step forward, reaching out a hand toward his son.<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver, come here and go with your father, son,\u201d he said, trying to regain his position of authority.<\/p>\n
My son stepped back, firmly shaking his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, because you do not take care of my mommy, and grandma said you would replace her like a broken machine if she stopped being useful,\u201d Oliver said, repeating the harsh truth he had heard.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold, and I could see the color draining from Beatrice\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
My father took a slow step toward Thomas, his gaze unyielding.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you actually say those things in front of an innocent child?\u201d he asked, his voice low and dangerous.<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at his mother, then at me, desperately searching for a way to walk back his mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucinda, you know how my mother talks when she is angry, so please do not take it so seriously,\u201d he stammered.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Thomas, what is said in anger is only a reflection of what is truly thought in silence,\u201d I replied, standing firm.<\/p>\n
Beatrice decided to switch tactics, smoothing her blouse and putting on a fake, gentle tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucinda, sweetheart, let us not let this get out of hand, as you are sensitive and we are just strong-willed people,\u201d she said, trying to gaslight me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not ever call me sweetheart again, because last night you made it perfectly clear that I am nothing more than a stranger to this family,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
Cassandra decided to throw fuel on the fire by making one final, arrogant comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if you were so offended by a little dinner situation, you can just keep your salon and see how you fare on your own,\u201d she sneered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure you will realize that you are nothing without us, so just leave the kid and go back to your little shop,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
I smiled for the first time, feeling a surge of power as I realized how much control I actually held.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy salon actually paid for your entire nail business, Cassandra, and the lease is in my name, not yours,\u201d I said, watching her smile vanish.<\/p>\n
Thomas tensed up, realizing that the tide had officially turned against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucinda, let us not start mixing up business and family, because we can talk this through,\u201d Thomas said, his voice losing its edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also going to be mixing up the living arrangements, because my parents provided the deposit for that apartment and I have been paying the mortgage this entire time,\u201d I added.<\/p>\n
I could see the panic setting in as my lawyer, Claudia, joined us on a speakerphone call, having been waiting for my signal.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucinda, I have reviewed all the financial records, and we have enough evidence to secure your assets and file for full custody,\u201d Claudia said clearly.<\/p>\n
Beatrice gripped her purse so hard her knuckles turned white, and Cassandra looked like she might faint.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, that cannot be true,\u201d Cassandra whispered, her voice finally losing its bravado.<\/p>\n
Oliver moved closer to my leg, hiding behind me as he looked at his grandmother with genuine fear. \u201cI am going with my mommy, and I do not want to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reddit-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6166,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165\/revisions\/6166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redditlovers.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}