Chapter 8 - Clara was leverage
I hated the next part.
Elliot told his therapist what Aurelia said before she closed the SUV.
“She said if I wanted to act like Clara’s protector, I could protect her in there.”
I left the room when I heard.
Not because I doubted him.
Because the cruelty was more deliberate than I had allowed myself to believe.
Aurelia had put Clara in the vehicle first.
Securely in her infant seat.
Then told Elliot to get in.
He refused.
She said:
“You tell adults things that aren’t your business. So you can sit until you understand.”
Elliot said:
“I’m telling Dad.”
Aurelia:
“Then get in.”
He climbed because Clara was already inside.
That mattered.
She used his instinct to protect his baby sister to make him comply.
Then locked them.
Not an impulsive door slam with immediate regret.
A punishment.
Clara herself had done nothing.
She was four months old.
May you like
She became an instrument.
That changed the family problem into something I could never repair privately.
