Chapter 14 - Why Morwenna chose Caroline
My mother had always liked Caroline.
Even after the divorce.
Sometimes more than me.
Caroline grew up with a chaotic mother.
Morwenna became maternal toward her during our marriage.
When Caroline and I divorced, Morwenna told me privately:
“You are making a mistake.”
I was.
Maybe.
Caroline and I had stopped functioning as spouses long before separation.
Neither cheated.
No violence.
We became colleagues managing a house.
Caroline wanted another child.
I did not after a difficult miscarriage and years of conflict.
We separated.
Morwenna blamed me because:
“You chose comfort over family.”
Caroline never asked her to.
But the narrative stayed.
When Caroline remarried Thomas and created the traditional household Morwenna valued, my mother saw correction.
Mother.
Stepfather.
Possible future sibling.
House.
Dog.
Caroline worked from home.
Leander worked downtown.
In Morwenna’s worldview, the comparison was obvious.
She did not think she was betraying me.
She thought she was refusing to let loyalty to her son interfere with:
what a little girl needs.
That was how righteous people become dangerous.
May you like
Not because they lack love.
Because certainty makes consent seem inefficient.
