Natalie sat beside him.
She was in her early forties, impeccably dressed, with a confident smile that never quite reached her eyes.
Karen was not there.
Michael had told Daniel she was too emotional to participate in a reasonable conversation.
That should have been our first warning.
The waiter had barely poured the water when Michael began speaking.
“I want us to move forward without unnecessary hostility.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You mean without Mom asking questions?”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“I mean without turning a difficult situation into a public spectacle.”
“You had an affair for four years.”
Natalie shifted in her seat.
Michael lowered his voice.
“Marriage is complicated, Daniel.”
“Apparently, so is telling the truth.”
I looked down at my glass to hide a smile.
Michael noticed.
“Something amusing, Alex?”
“No.”
“You’ve always been close to this family. I hope you understand that there are two sides to every story.”
“I understand that four years is a long time to hide something from your wife.”
The table went silent.
Michael put down his fork.
“You should be careful about taking sides in a situation you don’t understand.”
I met his eyes.
“Then perhaps you should stop asking people to defend a situation you haven’t explained.”
Daniel stared at me.
Natalie looked uncomfortable.
Michael’s smile disappeared.
“You’re a guest here, Alex.”
“And you’re the one who invited me.”
For the first time, the polished executive looked genuinely angry.
Then he leaned back and changed tactics.
“Karen has always been emotionally dependent on me. I worry that she isn’t handling the separation rationally.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Don’t talk about her like she’s a problem you need to manage.”
Michael looked surprised.
Perhaps he had expected his son to remain silent.
“I’m only concerned about her well-being.”
“Then you should have thought about that before you spent four years lying to her.”
Dinner ended shortly afterward.
Outside, Daniel stood beneath the restaurant awning with his hands in his pockets.
“I can’t believe he brought her.”
“Neither can I.”
He looked at me.
“Do you think Mom knew?”
“About Natalie?”
“About how bad it was.”
I thought about Karen sitting on her kitchen floor beside the broken glass.
“I think she knew something was wrong. I don’t think she knew how much he’d been hiding.”
Daniel stared into the rain.
“I hate him right now.”
“You’re allowed to.”
“He’s still my father.”
“You’re allowed to love someone and be angry with them.”
He looked at me.
“When did you become a therapist?”
“After years of listening to you complain about your dating life.”
