cracked.
“I let it happen.”
Neither of us spoke.
“I saw it for years,” he continued. “Every joke. Every insult. Every time she treated you like you didn’t matter.”
I looked out the hotel window.
“And you said nothing.”
“Yes.”
The truth landed heavily between us.
He inhaled shakily.
“I kept telling myself it wasn’t that bad.”
“That’s what people always tell themselves.”
Another silence.
Then Ethan whispered:
“When Mom and Dad died, you were the brave one.”
I felt tears gathering unexpectedly.
“You were seventeen.”
He continued.
“You joined
