Chapter 28 - ETHAN FACES HIS MOTHER
Rebecca asked Ethan to attend one counseling session with her.
He agreed after making one condition.
“If I want to stop, we stop.”
“Yes.”
The counselor asked Ethan what he remembered most.
Not the ball hitting Ava.
Not Madison’s raised hand.
Not the police cruiser.
“My mom pointing at Ava.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“You hurt her. Apologize.”
Ethan remembered every word.
“What did that mean to you?” the counselor asked.
“That Mom had already decided who mattered.”
Rebecca began crying.
She did not turn away.
“I made you feel less important than Madison’s approval.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Are you different now?”
Rebecca did not answer quickly.
“I’m trying to behave differently.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The counselor allowed the silence.
Finally, Rebecca said:
“I don’t know whether one bad choice revealed who I really was or who fear could turn me into.”
Ethan listened.
“But I know I am responsible for becoming someone safer.”
That answer felt more honest than a promise.
Ethan asked the question he had carried for months.
“If Dad hadn’t arrived, would you have let Madison hit me?”
Rebecca’s face went pale.
“I stopped her before he reached us.”
“But would you have stopped her if you hadn’t already seen my blood?”
Rebecca remembered Madison moving forward.
She remembered her own hesitation.
“I want to say yes.”
Ethan waited.
“But I cannot know.”
The truth hurt them both.
Rebecca continued.
“That is why I have to change before another moment tests me.”
Ethan looked toward the counselor.
“I’m not ready to say I forgive her.”
“You do not have to,” the counselor answered.
Rebecca nodded.
“I will still do the work.”
On the way home, Ethan sat beside her in the car.
He did not hold her hand.
But when they reached the house, he waited for her before entering the gate.
Rebecca noticed.
May you like
She said nothing.
Trust did not need to be announced every time it moved one step forward.
