Lenora covered her mouth.
Martin’s shoulders sagged.
Petra stood rigidly, her hands clenched at her sides.
“That is not the whole conversation,” she said.
“It is the portion that concerns my property,” Josephine replied.
“You edited it.”
“I preserved the original files.”
“Then play the whole thing.”
Josephine pressed a key.
Petra’s voice returned.
“I can get her to move if I make the holidays unbearable. She cares about appearances. She will not want Dex caught between us.”
A chair creaked.
Lenora said, “You planned this dinner?”
“I planned for her to understand that nobody wants to keep doing this.”
“You told me you wanted to talk honestly.”
“I do. Honesty is useful when people have stopped being practical.”
The recording ended.
A long silence followed.
Somewhere in the sitting room, one of the children laughed at something on television. The sound was so ordinary that it hurt.
Dex looked at Petra.
“Did you bring my children here to help pressure her?”
Petra’s eyes filled, but no tears fell.
“I brought them because it was Christmas.”
“You knew what you were going to say.”
“I knew we needed a decision.”
“You wanted her humiliated.”
“That is not fair.”
“You told me I deserved a life that didn’t revolve around my mother.”
“You do.”
“I have a life with my mother in it. You knew that when you married me.”
