Chapter 14 - Sophie Explains Why She Watched
Two years later, Michael finally asked Sophie whether she had watched Rebecca because she expected violence.
“No,” Sophie said.
She had expected Rebecca to take the key.
She had noticed whispered calls, nighttime searches, and questions Rebecca asked Ethan when Michael was absent.
“I was snooping,” Sophie admitted.
“A little.”
Then she explained why she had stayed silent.
Rebecca told her the secret involved Caroline. Sophie thought learning it would make Michael sad.
Michael realized his daughter had repeated the family’s oldest mistake.
She had tried to protect someone she loved by controlling what he knew.
“You don’t have to protect me from information,” he told her.
“What if it’s really bad?”
“Then we deal with really bad information.”
“What if you cry?”
“I might.”
“What if you get mad?”
“I might.”
“But I can still tell you?”
“Always.”
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Families did not become safe because nobody felt pain.
They became safer when pain did not require silence.
