“So early,” she sighed. “In my day, a wife made sure her husband had a hot breakfast first.”
I bit my tongue. I had a meeting in forty minutes and no energy for World War III at 8 a.m.
Mom was just joking.”
Sure. Hilarious.
Back then, I had no idea that the next sign wouldn’t be a comment or a look—it would be something I found in my own bedroom that didn’t belong to anyone in that house.
I told myself I could handle her. I could suck it up for a few weeks.
I’d survived worse than passive-aggressive comments and reorganized cabinets.
But then I started finding things.
It was a Tuesday night. I was brushing my teeth when I noticed a black satin scrunchie on my nightstand. Cute, glossy, not my style.
I wore those basic elastic hair ties that came in a pack of fifty.
Tom rolled his chair out of the office and squinted. “Probably yours or Mom’s.”
“Definitely not mine! And your mom has, like, three inches of hair.”
“Then I don’t know.
It’s just a hair tie, babe. Don’t overthink it.”
I dropped it into the junk drawer of my nightstand.
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