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Last Thursday morning started like any other. The girls were working on new designs, and I was making coffee when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone.
When I opened the door, Lauren stood there like a ghost I’d buried 18 years ago.
Her clothes probably cost more than our rent.
She looked different. Polished and expensive, like someone who’d spent years crafting an image.
Her hair was styled perfectly. Her clothes probably cost more than our rent. She wore sunglasses even though it was overcast, and when she lowered them to look at me, her expression was pure disdain.
“Mark,” she said, her voice dripping with judgment.
I didn’t move or speak. Just stood there blocking the doorway.
“You’ve still remained the same loser.”
She pushed past me anyway, stepping into our apartment like she owned it. Her eyes swept over our modest living room, our sewing table covered in fabrics, and the life we’d built without her.
Her nose wrinkled like she’d smelled something rotten.
“You’ve still remained the same loser,” she said loud enough for the girls to hear. “Still living in this… hole? You’re supposed to be a man, making big money, building an empire.”
“It’s your… mother.”
My jaw stiffened, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of a response.
Emma and Clara had frozen at their sewing machines, their hands stilling on the fabric. They couldn’t see her, but they could hear the venom in her voice.
“Who’s there, Dad?” Clara asked quietly.
I took a breath. “It’s your… mother.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
“We’re blind. Isn’t that why you left us?”
Lauren walked further into the room, her heels clicking against our worn floor.
“Girls!” she said, her voice suddenly syrupy sweet. “Look at you. You’re so grown up.”
Emma’s face remained blank. “We can’t see, remember? We’re blind. Isn’t that why you left us?”
The bluntness made Lauren falter for just a second.
“Of course,” she recovered quickly. “I meant… you’ve grown so much. I’ve thought about you every single day.”
I’d never been prouder of my daughters.
“Funny,” Clara said, her voice ice-cold. “We haven’t thought about you at all.”
I’d never been prouder of my daughters. Lauren cleared her throat, clearly thrown off by their hostility.
“I came back for a reason. I have something for you.”