The Truth Comes Out
“My son still comes to me for everything.”
Lena’s voice was unmistakable.
She sounded amused.
Proud.
Almost smug.
“Even the private things. Especially those. He tells me everything.”
Ethan stared at the recorder.
“Mom…”
Richard didn’t stop it.
Lena continued.
“His wife is so dull. I doubt she even knows how bored he is.”
A fork dropped at the neighboring table.
Lena lunged forward.
“Turn that off!”
Richard calmly moved the recorder away.
“No.”
“Richard!”
“You wanted everyone to believe I didn’t know what you were doing.”
He looked at Ethan.
“I knew.”
The next recording began.
Lena was talking about the wedding.
About how she had instructed Ethan what to tell her.
What questions to ask.
What details to share.
How she intended to make herself part of their marriage from the beginning.
Ethan’s face changed.
He wasn’t angry at Avery.
He wasn’t embarrassed by her anymore.
He was looking at his mother as though he were seeing her for the first time.
“You told me she was just curious,” he whispered.
Lena’s mouth opened.
“I was protecting you.”
“From my wife?”
“You don’t understand.”
“No,” Ethan said quietly.
“I think I finally do.”
Lena looked at Richard.
“You recorded me?”
“I recorded what you freely said.”
“You had no right!”
Richard’s voice remained calm.
“You lost the right to privacy when you decided everyone else’s private life belonged to you.”
Lena looked around.
People were watching.
She lowered her voice.
“Ethan, come with me.”
Ethan didn’t move.
“Baby?”
Still nothing.
Then Richard said something that made the entire table go silent.
“You’ve spent your whole life teaching our son that loving you means obeying you.”
He paused.
“But marriage doesn’t work that way.”
Lena’s eyes filled with tears.
Richard continued.
“And neither does love.”
